Dems drop COVID-19 funds, clear way for OK of Ukraine aidUpdated 12 hours ago

by · The Columbian
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, of Calif., speaks to the media, Thursday, March 3, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives for a weekly policy luncheon, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., arrives to meet with fellow Democrats, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., looks over his notes before taking questions from reporters and speaking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders abruptly abandoned plans for a fresh infusion of $15.6 billion for battling the COVID pandemic on Wednesday, clearing the way for House debate and passage of a vast government spending bill that is anchored by aid for Ukraine and European allies.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced that the COVID-19 spending would be removed from the package after rank-and-file lawmakers objected that it would be paid for, in part, by cutting previously approved pandemic assistance to their states.

“We must proceed” with the government-wide $1.5 trillion legislation because of the urgency of helping Ukraine and the bill’s spending for other programs, Pelosi wrote in a letter to colleagues.

“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,” she said.

While Democrats had insisted on including the pandemic money in the sprawling, bipartisan legislation, Republicans demanded it be paid for with cuts elsewhere. After hours of talks, Pelosi relented to Democratic lawmakers who were refusing to let the measure move forward unless the earlier funds their states were supposed to receive were protected.

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 leading Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had said was a top priority.

The money countering the Russian blitzkrieg t hat’s devastated parts of Ukraine and triggered that continent’s biggest refugee exodus since World War II ensured that the overall bill would ultimately pass with robust support from both parties. President Joe Biden requested $10 billion for the military, humanitarian and economic aid last week, and backing in Congress was so staunch that the figure grew to $13.6 billion in just days.

“The people of Ukraine are courageously standing up for freedom,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said as debate began. “Congress, the Biden administration and the people of the United States must stand with them.”

Party leaders planned to whip the 2,741-page measure through the House on Wednesday and the Senate by week’s end, though that chamber’s exact timing was unclear.

Lawmakers were spurred to act quickly by the urgency of helping Ukraine before Russia’s military might makes it too late. 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.