By David Lawder and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Worries about Ebola are chipping away at some congressional Republicans' support for maintaining across-the-board spending caps on U.S. government agencies and the military.
An increasing number of Republicans are speaking out in favor of Ebola "emergency" funds, which would be passed outside of the normal budget process, and would not require offsetting spending cuts or explicit sources of revenue.
"I think we're going to give the money that's needed," Republican Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas told Reuters, when asked about emergency funds. "If they need more, they need to ask for it."
Farenthold and others open to special measures for Ebola generally insisted that any broad increase in spending would need to be paid for with cuts. And the pre-election pledges to fight Ebola from rank and file Republicans and some party leadership could still have strings attached.
But concerns about the disease are adding to pressures on the 20-month-old "sequester" spending caps. These include the growing costs of fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, maintaining U.S. military superiority over a more aggressive Russia and addressing a surge of child migrants from Central America. Some see concern over Ebola paving the way for other action.
Lawmakers and aides now expect an emergency funding request from the Obama administration within days to provide more money for the Centers for Disease Control and other agencies to stop the virus from spreading in West Africa and in the United States. A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on any Ebola request.
"Whatever the CDC thinks they need, we'll give it to them," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a recent MSNBC interview, referring to Ebola funding.
Congress' deficit-cutting fervor has cooled somewhat as an economic rebound and tax increases have more than halved the government's deficits to $483 billion last fiscal year from the recession-driven $1 trillion-plus that were prevalent when the controls were enacted in 2011.
Approving emergency funds is probably the easiest way for Congress to circumvent the budget caps. Congress did this in August when it approved $16 billion to speed medical care to veterans languishing on long waiting lists at Veterans Affairs Department clinics and hospitals.
Lawmakers could also raise caps through a one-or-two year budget agreement like one crafted last year.
The most difficult change would be a comprehensive budget deal in Congress that ends seven future years of caps.