President Joe Biden on Monday stepped up defense of his $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief bill after Republicans blamed the shockingly weak gain in April employment on federal benefit payments persuading those out of work to hold off on getting a job. “The people who claim Americans won’t work even if they find a good and fair opportunity underestimate the American people,” Biden said at the White House. At the same time, he warned people against attempting to game the jobless-benefit system, which currently offers an extra $300 a week through September thanks to the Covid-19 aid bill. Anyone offered a suitable role “must take the job or lose their unemployment benefits,” Biden said Monday. There are some exceptions for Covid-19, “but otherwise that’s the law,” he said. Some states still have suspended work-search requirements, dating from earlier in the pandemic. But Biden is now directing his Labor Department to work with them to reinstate those, “if health and safety conditions allow,” a White House fact sheet showed. Meantime, the president urged employers to boost wages and help workers get vaccinated to aid in the jobs rebound. And he listed a raft of measures the government is taking to bolster the recovery, including distributing money for childcare. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake