WASHINGTON — President Trump and congressional Republicans spent the last three years fighting to cut anti-poverty programs and expand work rules, so their support for emergency relief — especially in the form of directly sending people checks, usually a nonstarter in American politics — is a significant reversal of their effort to shrink the safety net.

It has also intensified a long-running debate about whether that safety net adequately protects the needy in ordinary times as well.

“The crisis has made the need for benefits much more visible and the people who receive them seem much more sympathetic,” said Jane Waldfogel, a professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work. “Progressives will argue for making many of these changes permanent, and conservatives will worry about the costs and potential burden on employers, but this has profoundly changed the playing field.”

Those who support more government help for low-income families say the crisis has revealed holes in the safety net that the needy have long understood. It is a patchwork system, largely built for good times, and offers little cash aid to people not working. It pushes the poor to find jobs, and supports many who do, but offers little protection for those without them.