Senate negotiators reached a deal Monday to provide $10 billion in domestic COVID-19 aid but without a provision for global aid. The bill may be passed as soon as this week.
Several Republicans, including Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, continued negotiations after a previous COVID-19 aid measure fell apart last month. Romney and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, announced the new deal Monday in separate statements.
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Schumer said, “After working through the weekend, Senator Romney and I have reached an agreement on a bipartisan COVID-19 Supplemental Appropriations package.”
Although he is “disappointed” Republicans wouldn’t agree to fund global aid, Schumer praised Romney “for leading the negotiations for the Senate Republicans and working in good faith to reach an agreement on much needed COVID funding.”
Schumer said President Joe Biden “supports this package and has asked the Senate and House to act quickly to get this bill to his desk.”
Romney said that Senate Republicans “have insisted that any new requests from the Administration for COVID funding be paid for by repurposing existing funds from the nearly $6 trillion in COVID legislation that the Senate has already passed.”
“Today’s agreement does just that by repurposing $10 billion to provide needed domestic COVID health response tools,” Romney said. “Half of the funding will be used for the development and purchase of therapeutics—potentially eliminating the need for future vaccine and mask mandates. Importantly, this bill is comprised of dollar-for-dollar offsets and will not cost the American people a single additional dollar.”
Schumer said that he will continue to seek global aid funds. Romney said he is “willing to explore a fiscally-responsible solution to support global efforts in the weeks ahead.”
Last month, the White House asked Congress to authorize an additional $22.5 billion to continue ongoing COVID-19 response efforts, as well as fund new treatments and research and preventative measures for future variants. The reported deal is less than half the request and omits the global aid sought by the Biden administration.
Lawmakers stripped COIVID-19 funding in order to pass an omnibus spending bill prior to a deadline last month amid disputes over how to pay for the additional funds.
Senate Republicans argued that additional COVID-19 funding should be offset by other cuts. Democratic leadership offered to cover half the costs by using unspent state funds from previous pandemic aid packages. But some Democratic House lawmakers objected, arguing their states already had plans in place for these unspent funds. In order to meet the omnibus deadline and avert a shutdown due to the disagreement, Democratic leadership stripped the provision.
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The lack of global aid in the deal could become a problem for its passage in the House, where some Democrats may oppose the measure without the inclusion of the funds.
