A section of a spending bill meant to provide more than $15 billion for COVID-19 relief has been nixed, paving the way for a spending package more focused on providing aid to Ukraine, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to her fellow Democrats.
Pelosi said in her letter though removing the COVID-19 funding from the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package was "heartbreaking," the spending package must move forward without it due to resistance from some House members. As COVID-19 cases around the world continue to decrease in volume and severity, this shows helping Ukraine is becoming more of a priority as the country enters its third week of the Russian invasion.
The largest issue in the spending bill stemmed from how the COVID-19 relief would be paid for, according to Pelosi's letter. Republicans wanted "every cent requested by the Administration" to be offset, Pelosi wrote, meaning it would be paid for by cutting costs elsewhere.
Republicans were looking to offset the costs by tapping unspent money state governments received from past COVID-19 relief laws, Roll Call reported. However, Democrats wanted to make sure these cuts would not be to their own states' funding.
The $15.6 billion COVID-19 relief would have provided more vaccines, treatments and tests, according to the Associated Press.
"We must proceed with the omnibus today, which includes emergency funding for Ukraine and urgent funding to meet the needs of America's families," Pelosi wrote in her letter. "It is heartbreaking to remove the COVID funding, and we must continue to fight for urgently needed COVID assistance, but unfortunately that will not be included in this bill."
Data from the Mayo Clinic shows COVID-19 cases have fallen dramatically since the highs driven by the Omicron variant seen around the world in January, with the average positive test rate in the U.S. going from more than 28 percent at the beginning of the year to just 3.5 percent as of Monday.
An anonymous source familiar with the ongoing discussions in the House told Roll Call Democratic leaders in the House are considering a standalone pandemic spending bill, but are looking for other ways to offset the costs besides taking states' unused aid.
When it comes to providing Ukraine with aid, lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum are showing their support, the AP added. Newsweek previously reported Congress is prepared to pass $13.6 billion in financial support to the people of Ukraine as part of the omnibus bill. This will include humanitarian aid, defense equipment and personnel, enforcement of sanctions, economic support and support for the region's journalists.
Update 03/09/22 5:45 p.m. ET: This story was updated to add more information.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
