FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Congress Still Can't Figure Out How to Respond to the Looming Zika Virus Threat

With the warm summer months here and the number of Zika cases in the US on the rise, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are getting anxious about how to respond to another emerging health pandemic with no emergency solution in sight.
Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Last New Year's Eve, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed in Puerto Ricothe first US case of Zika virus, the mosquito-borne tropical disease that has been linked to fetal brain defects and neurological damage. Two months and more than 50 Zika cases later, President Barack Obama asked Congress in February for nearly $1.9 billion in emergency federal funds to address and halt the spread of Zika in the US.

Advertisement

Since then, there have been more than 600 additional cases of Zika in the US — and little response from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Two separate proposals have been introduced into the House and Senate, yet they have been stalled for much of the spring due to partisan budget fights. Now with the warm summer months here and the number of Zika cases continuing to rise, many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are getting anxious about how to respond to another emerging health pandemic with no emergency solution in sight.

How Bad Is Zika, Really?
Up until this most recent outbreak, Zika fell somewhere between Ebola and the common flu on the spectrum of public health epidemics to freak out about. Most people who get bitten by a Zika-carrying mosquito display only symptoms that include fever, rash and sore joints. Often, the symptoms aren't detectable at all, and many who get Zika are unaware they even have it. But if you're pregnant, or planning on becoming pregnant soon, the risks are far greater: Zika can cause a severe fetal brain defect called microcephaly, as well as other serious birth complications.

The rapid spread of Zika throughout the Americas over the past year, which is believed to have caused thousands of babies to be born with birth defects in Brazil, prompted some governments to urge their citizens to avoid getting pregnant in the near future. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in February.

Advertisement

What Did the White House Ask For?
After heeding warnings from global public health officials, the White House decided to act earlier this year and issued a detailed funding request from Congress. The majority of Obama's $1.9 billion proposal— about $1.5 billion out of the total — would provide increased funding to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC. Most of that money would go toward vaccine testing and research by the CDC, as well as toward funding Puerto Rico's Medicaid services designated for pregnant women at risk of Zika infection. An additional $335 million would go toward the US Agency of International Development (USAID) to strengthen the Zika response in foreign countries and give another $41 million to the State Department to provide emergency services for traveling Americans abroad.

What Is Congress' Response?
After three months of bickering with the White House and pondering Obama's request, the House and the Senate responded with their own funding proposals. The House of Representatives passed a Republican-backed bill last month that allocated $622 million to go to the Zika response, less than one third of what Obama requested. Aside from the amount of money, another key difference between the House bill and the White House's request is that the House bill requires the money to come from existing federal funds rather than adding to the budget deficit, per Obama's proposal. Most of those funds under the House bill would come from the money left over to address the Ebola crisis.

Advertisement

The House bill also allows for funding to last only until September of this year, unlike congressional Democrats' and the White House's version, which would go until September of 2017.

The $622 million the House approved would follow the White House's proposal to go toward the CDC, National Institute of Health, the State Department and USAID.

Meanwhile, the Senate also passed its own bipartisan measure last month, allocating $1.1 billion through September 2017 for the Zika response. The amount is closer to Obama's initial request, although it still falls short by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Unlike in the House, the Senate's response to Zika demonstrated a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation. Many Republican senators from southern states supported the full amount of emergency funding; they are from places that are the most vulnerable to Zika, and face pressure from home to act.

In Texas, for instance, state Republicans urged their congressional representatives to approve funding before Texans face "potentially devastating effects."

In tropical Florida, which has seen about a fifth of all Zika cases nationwide, leaders on both sides of the aisle are pushing for rapid government response. Florida's Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Bill Nelson launched a bipartisan effort to pass a standalone bill to get emergency Zika funding, which was later rejected. Florida Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan also pleaded with Congress to pass the full funding measure without delay.

Advertisement

But so far this has been the easy part. The real challenge comes when the two chambers have to come together and agree on a unified proposal.

What's Holding It Up?
The slow response from Congress to Obama's request can largely be blamed on — what else?— partisan bickering between Republicans and Democrats. In the House, Democrats are blaming Republicans for their refusal to allow any additional federal spending, even in cases of a public emergency like Zika, which they say risks the health of Americans.

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi called the House GOP measure "ridiculous," and asked, "What is the scientific justification for doing less than we need to do to protect the American people?"

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest also blasted the House Republican's $622 million proposal, saying that Obama plans to veto it if it reaches his desk.

"The only thing that Republicans in the House have come forward with is funding at like a third of the level that our public health experts recommend," Earnest said. "That doesn't make sense at all. That is a dumb approach. And I don't really understand why— why one would even consider an approach like that."

House Republicans object to the characterization that they're blocking the emergency funding just for the sake of politics. They're open to allowing money to go to a Zika response but only as long as it's not just a blank check for Obama.

Advertisement

"[W]hen the administration requested that $1.9 billion supplemental, which was just almost a slush fund across the government, the money could be used for any purpose," House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers said in April, according to USA Today. "We said, 'Look, we don't do business that way. We appropriate the taxpayer's dollars in a responsible, direct way, with details we can all understand."

What's Next for Zika Funding?
House and Senate lawmakers only have a matter of weeks to come to an agreement before Congress breaks for the seven-week summer recess starting July 15.

Meanwhile as the temperatures rise and travel between the US and Zika-infected countries increases, the threat of a public health crisis only grows larger. Both Republican and Democratic Senate leaders are well aware of the looming timetable.

"To leave now without putting an emergency spending bill on the president's desk is the height of irresponsibility," Senate Democratic minority leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor before Congress broke for the Memorial Day vacation. "We need to act before local transmission starts occurring in the continental United States. That's going to be soon. This fall is too late. It's time to act, not take a break."

Since Congress has been back in session this week, neither chamber has taken up the Zika proposal yet, despite mounting public pressure.

"We all agree that the Zika virus is a real threat and needs to be addressed," Senate Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor last Wednesday. "Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass a bill here in the Senate to provide funding and resources. The House passed its own version. We are now ready to go to conference and complete a final bill."

Follow Olivia Becker on Twitter: @oliviaLbecker