Congressional leaders on Wednesday introduced a roughly $1.5 trillion package that would fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year, providing a sizable boost in federal spending for both defense and non-defense programs along with nearly $14 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine. But Democratic leaders faced a revolt over the source of $15.6 billion in additional pandemic funding, forcing them to yank that money from the larger package.
The decision should clear the way for the House to pass the annual spending bill tonight, but it means the additional Covid money is very much in doubt.
After months of tenuous negotiations, top lawmakers entered the day intent on quickly passing the 2,741-page spending measure, known as an omnibus — both to ensure that federal operations aren’t interrupted when current government funding expires at the end of the day Friday and so that Democrats could head out to a three-day policy retreat in Philadelphia. They also included a fallback option in the form of another stopgap funding bill that would avert a shutdown in case the larger package is delayed.
That plan for quick action quickly fell apart, though. A group of Democrats objected to the legislation’s repurposing of $7 billion pandemic aid funding for state governments to partially cover the cost of the new Covid-19 public health spending. The reprogramming of those state funds was included in the bill after some Republicans had questioned the need for any additional pandemic spending and insisted that any additional money for coronavirus testing, treatments and vaccines be fully offset. But some Democratic lawmakers bucked at the funding compromise, saying that the structure of the deal would unfairly hurt about 30 states, taking away money that had been promised and in some cases already included in state spending plans.
“This deal was cut behind closed doors. Members found out this morning. This is completely unacceptable,” Rep. Annie Craig (D-MN) told reporters after leaving Pelosi’s office.
With time running short, House leaders decided to strip the pandemic relief money from the spending bill and hold a separate vote on a measure to provide the coronavirus aid without stripping state money. “It is heartbreaking to remove the COVID funding, and we must continue to fight for urgently needed COVID assistance, but unfortunately that will not be included in this bill,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in an afternoon letter to Democrats.
The bottom line: The spending bill looks set to pass late tonight. It would then head to the Senate. The Covid relief bill is also set for a late vote, but it is likely to be blocked by Senate Republicans, meaning that the Biden administration won’t be able to fund pandemic programs it says are critical to combatting the virus and preparing for any new variants.