GOP skeptical of new funding for Zika

Senate Republicans on Tuesday expressed skepticism about providing new emergency funding to fight the Zika virus after receiving a briefing from administration officials.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and other top health officials came to Capitol Hill to brief top senators in both parties on Zika and make the case for $1.8 billion in emergency funding. 

{mosads}But Republican leaders leaving the briefing pointed to existing funds, including leftover money appropriated to fight Ebola, as being available for the Zika response. They did not rule out an emergency funding bill, however.

Asked if he was skeptical of the new funding request, Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, said, “usually they come up with the request for money before they come up with a plan.”

Cornyn said he wanted to hear more details from the administration about the Zika plan, including at an Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday. The health committee will also hold a hearing later this month.  

“We all appreciate the potential seriousness of the issue, but right now there’s a lot that’s unknown,” Cornyn said. 

Asked if new funds would have to be offset, Cornyn indicated there might not be any new funds at all. “That’s the cart ahead of the horse,” Cornyn said. “We’re still talking about whether there’s already money that’s been appropriated.”

Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), for example, has introduced a bill that would shift $1.4 billion in unspent Ebola money to the fight against Zika. 

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), chairman of the Appropriations health subcommittee, raised the possibility of giving a smaller amount of new money, while also pointing to the existing funds. 

“We’re open to funding, and what we’ll talk about is how much you need and how you’re going to spend it,” Blunt said. “I do think in the short term that the money available in other accounts will meet immediate [needs], and then we need to deal with this emergency request.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement after the briefing that “at a time of limited federal resources, [senators] need a better understanding of the Administration’s funding priorities for the virus.”

The Obama administration, though, is pushing back on the idea of using existing Ebola money, arguing it needs new funds. 

“We believe we need to finish the job in terms of Ebola,” Burwell said after the briefing, and “focus on this issue separately.”

“We believe the money is important and it’s urgent,” she said. 

She said money is still needed to keep up efforts on Ebola, noting a recent case in Sierra Leone that was only found “because the steps were in place.”

“Right now we need an all out effort in terms of our own domestic preparedness, especially in Puerto Rico,” she said.

Administration health officials still say that they are not expecting a widespread outbreak of Zika in the United States, and that experience with similar mosquito-borne viruses indicate it is likely to remain in small clusters, particularly in southern Florida and Texas. But officials want to be prepared. 

The funding request includes money for a range of purposes including creating “rapid response teams” to limit the spread of the virus and speeding up research and development of a vaccine.