The Biden administration on Friday asked Congress to approve more than $47 billion in new emergency funds this fall to combat the coronavirus, secure new monkeypox vaccines, bolster Ukraine’s defenses and respond to devastating floods in Kentucky.
The official request sets up a fierce fight on Capitol Hill, where warring Democrats and Republicans face a looming, end-of-September deadline by which they must fund the government – or risk a catastrophic shutdown weeks before the midterm elections.
Much of the new money the Biden administration seeks would boost the U.S. government’s public health programs. Federal officials long have warned that dwindling funds threaten their ability to respond to a crisis.
Targeting the coronavirus, the Biden administration is asking for $22.4 billion, much of which would facilitate the purchase and development of next-generation vaccines and treatments. The money also would help restart programs that recently ran out of funds, including an initiative to provide free tests that the White House said it had to wind down this week after months of congressional inaction.
“While we have made tremendous progress in our ability to protect against and treat COVID-19, we must stay on our front foot,” said Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, in a letter sent to Congress on Friday. “Doing so requires additional resources, which is why today we are updating our previous funding request.”
The Biden administration also seeks about $4.5 billion to respond to monkeypox, which could help the government purchase and distribute a two-shot inoculation that has been in short supply for months. The lack of availability already has forced the U.S. to change the way it distributes the vaccine, known as Jynneos, in a bid to arrest the spread of the virus.
Besides the new public health funds, the White House asked Congress to approve another $13.7 billion for Ukraine, which includes money for military equipment, intelligence gathering and economic assistance. And top Biden aides estimated they would need about $6.5 billion to respond to recent natural disasters, including the devastating, deadly floods in Kentucky.
In each of those areas, the administration describe its request as urgent. In Ukraine, for example, Young said three-quarters of the aid Congress already approved for the war-torn country had been “disbursed or committed.”
Still, the White House faces the prospect of a tough slog in Congress. While the two parties long have banded together to bolster Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, Republicans repeatedly have refused to vote for other emergency spending, including funds for public health.
With new covid aid, in particular, GOP lawmakers see the money as wasteful after Congress already adopted more than $5 trillion in response to the pandemic. They have insisted Democrats should finance it through other budget cuts or moves – though Republicans have never made such demands about approving funding for Ukraine. The result nonetheless has been a months-long stalemate in the Senate, delaying aid that White House officials have described as critical.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, top administration aides emphasized that lawmakers had approved emergency requests under Democratic and Republican presidents alike without demanding they be offset by new revenue. A senior official, who briefed the press only on condition of anonymity, said Congress should “provide it that way again,” even as the source pointed out the White House has been open to holding talks with lawmakers on the exact contours of any spending agreement.
Any deal on overall spending must be struck by Sept. 30, or significant parts of the U.S. government would shut down. Congressional Democrats and Republicans are expected to adopt a short-term measure, known as a continuing resolution, to fund the government past the election – giving lawmakers more time to hammer out a longer-term arrangement that finances federal operations into 2023.
“This Administration will continue to work with members of both parties in Congress to meet these critical needs for the American people, and we look forward to reaching a bipartisan funding agreement that advances national priorities in the coming fiscal year,” Young said in her letter.
(c) 2022, The Washington Post · Tony Romm
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