Safety nets are likely to be yanked from underneath millions of vulnerable Americans in December, as the coronavirus surges.

Why it matters: Those most at risk are depending on one or more relief programs that are set to expire, right as the economic recovery becomes more fragile than it's been in months.

Those relief programs include special unemployment benefits and penalty-free pauses in mortgage and student loan payments.
What's going on: Economic support measures were created earlier this year as lawmakers thought the pandemic would be under control by now.

Now that the deadlines are approaching, the virus is worse than it's ever been — and Congress looks unlikely to re-up the support measures.
Adding to the pressure: Congress has taken initial steps to avert a government shutdown, but they have less than two weeks to hash out the final details of a spending package before the Dec. 11 deadline.
What they're saying: "It's a really tough time for these folks and they are caught in the middle of stupid Washington politics," Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, tells Axios.
https://www.axios.com/december-economic-doom-...4f3f7.html