Biden administration officials told lawmakers on Tuesday that they plan to seek $30 billion in new spending to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in conjunction with a $1.5 trillion government funding package lawmakers want to complete by March 11.
Department of Health and Human Services officials made the informal pitch to lawmakers, with a formal White House request expected at a later date.
Senator Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the health appropriations subcommittee, said he talked to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra about the request on Tuesday.
“I think they are going to be proposing a $30 billion supplemental,” Blunt said, indicating he could support it. “In the categories they are asking for money, the other money has all been spent or committed to other purposes.”
Health and Human Services is seeking $18 billion for medical countermeasures like antivirals and vaccines, according to people familiar with the conversations. The department also wants $5 billion for testing, $3 billion to treat the uninsured and $4 billion to prepare for future variants. Another $500 million could be targeted for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention operations.
Not included so far are funds for global vaccine distribution. Progressive Democratic lawmakers have sought $17 billion for that.
“While we continue to have sufficient funds to respond to the current omicron surge in the coming weeks, our goal has always been to ensure that we are well-prepared to stay ahead of the virus,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday. “So we’ve been in these ongoing conversations about what those needs might look like and this was a part of that effort.”
Democrats and Republicans are working behind closed doors this week to finish a full-year appropriations package, hoping to pass it by the time the House-passed stopgap expires on March 11. Appropriators have set tentative top-line spending levels for the various subcommittees and it is unclear how the HHS request would factor into that emerging compromise.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick Leahy told reporters Tuesday he wasn’t interested in dealing with the request as part of the omnibus spending package and would rather move it as a separate bill.
While Blunt may support the package, other Republicans could balk at the new COVID request, causing further delays in the larger annual funding bill.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor recently that any funds for COVID efforts should come from re-purposing previously appropriated relief from earlier COVID spending packages. Top Appropriations Republican Richard Shelby has also endorsed looking to re-purpose funds.
House Republicans are likely to be even less open to the idea and their votes are expected to be needed on any omnibus funding bill given large increases for the Pentagon that many progressives oppose.
The top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, blasted the HHS request in a statement.
“After spending trillions of dollars, the Biden administration is requesting additional $30 billion with no clear plan and no transparency,” she said.
“For months, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has asked for complete details on how the administration spent funds from the Democrats’ nearly $2 trillion spending bill they rushed through Congress a year ago. We’re still waiting for that information.”
