Dems Cave on Covid-Relief Funding, Pass $1.5 Trillion Spending Bill Without Additional Pandemic Aid

The House passed an expansive $1.5 trillion spending bill on Wednesday night that includes funding for the government through the end of the fiscal year, emergency aid for Ukraine’s war effort, but also a number of ambiguous programs abroad, with pandemic relief funding being thrown out at the last minute.

The omnibus package was bifurcated into two votes, both of which received bipartisan support: one for defense spending and one for domestic social spending. For the former, which included funding for the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, and national security, the House voted 361-69. For the latter, the vote was 260-171. The renewal of funding for the government came before a federal funding was set to expire Friday.

Over 2,700 pages in length, the bill includes approximately $14 billion for humanitarian, security, and economic support for Ukraine and Eastern European countries as they counter the Russian invasion but also under $40 million for “democracy programs” for Venezuela, an authoritarian socialist country. Another provision allocates $6 million in spending to an international leadership fund with some Russian recipients that are “engaging in free market development, humanitarian activities, and civic engagement.” However, the money will “not be used for officials of the central government of Russia,” it specifies.

The $15.6 billion in Covid-19 funding was scrapped due to a disagreement between the parties over how to finance it. Republicans had proposed redirecting previously allocated pandemic funds from state governments to offset the federal cost of Covid-19 relief, which Democrats opposed. The White House and Democratic leaders were reportedly angered that the Covid-19 money was abandoned, with a number of members airing their discontents and potentially jeopardizing the entire spending measure. The removal of the funds came as a shock to many rank-and-file Democrats and delayed the legislative process for hours.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California confirmed to her party in a letter that the Covid-19 funding would be absent from the bill: “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.” Democrats have pledged to come back to the issue soon, though. To replace the missing Covid-19 funds, Democratic leaders plan to hold a standalone vote next week without the GOP’s expense-reducing idea, The Hill reported.

The negotiating battle over pandemic funds reveals that Covid-19 response still weighs heavily on the minds of many Democrats, but it’s no longer what the GOP is chiefly preoccupied with given the escalating crisis in Ukraine.

As an extra failsafe to avoid a government shutdown in case President Biden can’t sign the omnibus bill by the deadline, the House also approved a short-term continuing resolution that would fund government agencies through March 15.