House Speaker Paul Ryan called Senate Democrats “irresponsible” on Tuesday for blocking a bicameral, $1.1 billion deal to fight the Zika virus.
But Ryan, R-Wis., didn’t say in a statement Tuesday whether the House plans to negotiate new legislation to fund Zika that can garner enough Democratic Senate votes to pass.
“This is ridiculous,” Ryan said in a statement. “Senate Democrats, after demanding Zika funding for months and supporting this exact funding level for weeks, now block it to create a political issue. Putting politics before a public health crisis is about as irresponsible as it gets. So much for all those lectures about doing your job.”
House and Senate Republicans criticized Democrats after the Zika funding measure stalled along mostly partisan lines earlier Tuesday. Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, called Democrats “sore losers” because they did not like all the terms of the deal.
Democrats complained the measure includes so-called poison pill provisions and is underfunded by $800 million.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate would reconsider the measure when it returns from a week-long recess later this month.
“I hope that the Democrats, upon reflection, will come back with a different attitude,” McConnell said.
