BREAKING: Democratic leaders have abandoned plans for a fresh infusion of $15.6 billion for battling the pandemic. That clears the way for House debate and passage of a vast government spending bill that is anchored by aid for Ukraine and European allies.
It was unclear whether Congress will be able to revive the dropped COVID-19 funds — which were largely aimed at providing more vaccines, treatments and tests — in future legislation. For now, the confrontation stood as a remarkable rank-and-file rebellion that succeeded in eliminating pandemic spending that top Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had said was a top priority.WASHINGTON — Democrats began pushing $13.
They also faced a Friday deadline to approve the government-wide spending measure or face a weekend election-year federal shutdown. As a backstop against delays, the House planned to pass a bill Wednesday keeping agencies afloat through March 15. The bipartisan rallying behind the Ukraine aid was just one manifestation of Congress’ eagerness to help the beleaguered country, though not all of it has been harmonious.
The bill was also fueled by large numbers of hometown projects for both parties’ lawmakers, which Congress had banned since 2011 but were revived this year. The spending — once called earmarks, now dubbed community projects — includes money for courthouses in Connecticut and Tennessee and repairs to a post office in West Virginia. And it names a federal building in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after Sen.
There’s added money for child care, job training, economic development in poorer communities and more generous Pell grants for low-income undergraduates. Public health and biomedical research would get increases, including $194 million for Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot” effort to cure the disease. The measure renews programs protecting women against domestic violence and requires many infrastructure operators to report significant cyber attacks and ransomware demands to federal authorities. The Defense Department would have to report on extremist ideologies within the ranks.