Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday abruptly withdrew $15.6 billion in coronavirus pandemic relief from a federal government funding bill after her own Democrats rioted over how it was paid for.
With Republicans refusing to support any new funding to fight the pandemic, Democrats decided to take money from existing programs, including $7 billion from last year’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief act, to help state governments.
This caused a wave of rage from many members of Congress, including many Democrats who objected to paying for the response through cuts in public funding. They found out about it when the budget was released at 1:34 am on Wednesday.
“This deal was made behind closed doors, and the members learned this morning that this is completely unacceptable,” said Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota.
“We fought tooth and nail to get those dollars back to our state governments,” she said.
Pelosi noted that “it was a real day” when she spoke to reporters at the Capitol at her weekly press conference.
And she took a defensive stance when asked about Democrats’ anger over the way COVID-19 aid funding was handled.
“Let’s grow up on this, okay,” the speaker said. “We are in the legislative process. We have a deadline to keep the government open. We have lively negotiations. It should be bipartisan.”
She said that because of the requirement of 60 votes in the Senate for the passage of the law, her hands were tied. This means Democrats need at least 10 Republican votes to pass the budget.
“While we need 60 votes in the Senate, members need to know that there must be compromises,” she said. “Every line on the bill is a negotiation.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi abruptly removed $15.6 billion in covid pandemic relief from a federal government funding bill after her own Democrats rioted.
The White House has asked for money to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawmakers from Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri and Maine joined in the objections.
Faced with an uprising within her ranks – and Pelosi needs all of her Democrats in line to pass a budget by Friday’s deadline to fund the government – the speaker canceled the covid funding clause.
“Due to the persistence of the Republicans — and the resistance of some of our members to these offsets — we will return to the Rules Committee to end COVID funding and pass a revised bill. Today we must begin an omnibus that includes emergency funding for Ukraine and emergency funding to meet the needs of American families,” Pelosi said in a letter to lawmakers.
“To end COVID funding is heartbreaking and we must continue to fight for urgently needed COVID assistance, but unfortunately this will not be included in this bill,” she added.
Funding in the coronavirus pandemic bill has been cut from the $22.5 billion that President Joe Biden’s administration wanted to $15.6 billion.
OMB Acting Director Shalanda Young approved the budget plan but warned in a statement Wednesday morning that additional resources will soon be needed to combat the coronavirus.
“Additional resources will be needed shortly to ensure that there are enough treatments, vaccines and tests for the American people and to prepare for any future options,” she said.
Action stalled on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon when Pelosi tried to broker a deal by speaking to members in her ornate speaker’s office outside the floor of the House of Representatives.
The leadership left open the previous Republican vote to close the House of Representatives for almost five hours while they tried to settle the situation.
But the Democrats refused to give in to the speaker.
“To turn around and now say we’re taking hundreds of millions of dollars in the name of bipartisanship is unbelievable,” said Democratic Rep. Corey Bush of Missouri. “I strongly oppose attempts to return the lifesaving resources we need to recover fully and fairly from this pandemic.”
The fallout came after Congressional leaders reached a $1.5 trillion deal early Wednesday to fund the government before Friday’s shutdown deadline, as well as provide $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine.
The clock is ticking and the House of Representatives will pass the bill on Wednesday and take it to the Senate so the House can begin its lengthy debate process. House Democrats also postponed their departure on Wednesday to Philadelphia, where they will hold their annual retreat.
The House of Representatives will also vote on another temporary spending bill that keeps state funding at current levels until March 15 to give the Senate time to consider the full-year package.
Government shutdown is not expected.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released details of the federal budget early Wednesday morning.
State funding package includes $13.6 billion to help Ukraine
The budget package, known as the omnibus, is fully funded by the federal government. This year’s bill shows a significant increase in both military and domestic spending.
“This bipartisan agreement will help us address many of the major challenges we face at home and abroad, from COVID-19 to the brutal and immoral attack on Ukraine to the need to cut costs for hardworking American families,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. This is stated in a joint statement by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The budget package is filled with items big and small, from a 2.7% pay increase for military personnel to funding a plaque to be placed on the Capitol’s west front to honor all the police officers who protected the building during Jan. 6. insurrection.
To help ensure passage by significant margins in both houses, this year’s budget package also marks the return of earmarked appropriations.
It’s now called “member-targeted spending”—the provisions allow funds to be earmarked for specific projects in legislator districts for the first time since the earmarking ban went into effect 11 years ago.
Republican Senator Roy Blunt argued that earmarked appropriations create a “concrete microcause” to support the funding bill.
“It’s easy to oppose things at the macro level,” he said. “And member-focused spending allows you to have something you can go home with.”
In the past, leaders have used target tags as a weapon, threatening to cut legislators’ favorite projects without the support of specific legislation.
Republicans expected to support funding measure – Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell touted increased military spending
The funding package also has legislative wins for both sides.
For Democrats, it provides $730 billion for domestic programs, up 6.7% from last year, the biggest increase in four years. This year’s bill also reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act, a priority for President Joe Biden, who sponsored it for the first time as a senator.
“This will be a huge step forward in legislation first proposed by then-Senator Joe Biden more than 30 years ago,” White House Chief of Staff Ron Klein said. tweeted about enabling VAWA.
Republicans won $782 billion for defense, up 5.6% from last year.
“This agreement provides significantly more money than the Biden administration has asked for defense, and significantly less money than the administration has asked for non-defense. At my insistence, it also provides far more money for Ukraine than the Democrats have offered, especially for authorities and funding to quickly get critical military equipment to Ukraine,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
President Biden initially asked for $10 billion in aid to Ukraine, but bipartisan support was so strong that the figure rose to $12 billion on Monday and $13.6 billion in the final package.
Here’s how financial assistance to Ukraine is divided: $6.5 billion for the Pentagon, including $3 billion to support US troops in Europe and $3.5 billion to replace weapons provided to Ukraine; $4 billion for the State Department to help refugees; and $2.8 billion USAID for immediate humanitarian disaster relief.
It also includes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and $300 million for allies and partners in the region, including $180 million for the Baltic States Security Initiative, $30 million for Poland, $30 million for Romania, $20 million for to Bulgaria and $40 million to Georgia.