Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a critical funding measure needed to combat the spreading Zika virus, a move that will now make it impossible for Congress to send legislation to President Obama before July 4.
The $1.1 billion Zika language was included in a bill funding the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction, which failed to get the 60 votes it needed to end debate and allow it to advance in the Senate. The vote failed 52-48, after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., changed his vote to “no” in the hopes of bringing up the bill again.
The vote kills the entire bill for now, and essentially requires lawmakers to come up with a new funding plan that can win the support of Democrats and Obama.
“We know that blocking this bill would mean preventing critical anti-Zika funds from getting one step closer to becoming law,” McConnell warned prior to the vote.
The vote leaves Zika funding in limbo, potentially for the remainder of the summer. The House is not in session this week and senators will adjourn for their own week-long recess in just a few days. Both chambers are back in session for just one week before gaveling out by July 15 and not returning until after Sept. 5.
Both sides blamed each other after the failed vote.
“So I say to my colleagues on the other side, that’s where we’ll be when we come back here after this brief break for the Fourth of July,” McConnell said. “I’d like to call on my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to think about this. Think about where they have left this issue.”
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., meanwhile, took to Twitter to call the GOP bill “idiotic.”
blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” width=”520″ data-lang=”en”> Believe it or not, the GOP Zika bill reverses the ban on flying the confederate flag at military cemeteries. Really! Idiotic.— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) June 28, 2016
Both parties have been eager to pass federal funding to combat the virus, which causes severe birth defects and neurological problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has infected 2,900 people in the United States, including 481 pregnant women.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., urged the GOP to “come back to the negotiating table and work with us on a real response to a serious public health threat.” But Republicans pointed out that Democrats overwhelmingly supported a similar measure in May.
“The exact same amount that Democrats unanimously supported six weeks ago and now Democrats don’t want to support it,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said.
The measure passed the GOP-led House along party lines last week. It was written by House and Senate Republicans and is partially offset with unused federal funding.
Democrats said they opposed the bill because it includes so-called poison pills, such as a provision preventing Planned Parenthood from using any of the Zika funding. Another provision lifts a recently passed measure banning Confederate flags from military cemeteries.
Democrats also opposed the offsets, and wanted the Zika bill to include emergency deficit spending. The Republican bill calls for more than $100 million to be redirected from a fund meant to fight the Ebola virus, which has receded. Another $543 million would be shifted from an unused fund that had been intended to start Obamacare insurance exchanges in U.S. territories.
The measure also provides $800 million less than President Obama’s Zika funding request.
“This conference report is the most irresponsible legislation I have ever seen in my 34 years in Congress,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said, referring to the measure.
Thune criticized Democrats for basing their opposition on the Planned Parenthood provision, and argued that the measure expands funding at other health clinics. It would only block funding at a few Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico that were seeking additional federal funding, Thune said.
“A handful of Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico,” Thune said. “Seriously. This is what this is about?”
