A leading Republican senator is asking federal agencies why they have been slow to distribute $589 million for fighting the Zika virus.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Friday that only $112 million out of $589 million allocated in April has been spent. He openly questioned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health and Human Services why so little has been spent.
“Three months seems to be a long wait to respond to an impending outbreak,” he said.
The CDC disputed Grassley’s assessment, saying that “the suggestion that repurposed Ebola funds are sitting unused is misleading.”
Spokeswoman Erin Sykes said that using the money within federal rules takes time, which is why President Obama requested $1.9 billion for the Zika fight in February. She said much of the money that has been allocated will move in July and August.
The agency so far has used the money to ship blood and Zika prevention kits to Puerto Rico, set up research efforts, and award vaccine development contracts. In addition, the agency will award about $100 million soon to states and local governments to fight the virus, Sykes said.
The comments come as the Senate fights over whether to approve more funding for the Zika virus. Republicans want to approve $1.1 billion, below Obama’s initial request of $1.9 billion.
Democrats have balked at the funding package, complaining that it includes riders that strip funding to Planned Parenthood and other unrelated policy measures.
Obama asked for $1.9 billion in February but Republicans balked, asking the administration to take money leftover from fighting the Ebola outbreak.
While administration officials said that a majority of that money was already committed to improve healthcare infrastructure in other countries, it decided in April to allocate $510 million from Ebola and another nearly $80 million from emergency funds to fight Zika.
Now Grassley wants to know why only $112 million of that has been distributed and questioned whether the administration has prepared for the emergency. Grassley criticized the CDC for waiting until this past week to recommend that Puerto Rico consider aerial spraying to kill mosquitoes.
The territory has almost 2,500 Zika cases.
“Like many of my colleagues, I find it frustrating that this administration isn’t better prepared for emergency illnesses,” Grassley wrote.
