WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is asking Congress to provide more than $47 billion in emergency dollars that would go toward the war in Ukraine, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing smallpox outbreak and aid for recent natural disasters in Kentucky and other states.
The request, which comes as lawmakers prepare to return to Washington and fund the government, includes $13.7 billion related to Ukraine, including money for equipment, intelligence support and direct budget support. Shalanda Young, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said more than three-quarters of the $40 billion approved by Congress earlier this year has already been disbursed or committed.
“We have come together around the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their democracy, and we cannot allow that support for Ukraine to wane,” Young said in a blog post.
The White House’s request will play into congressional budget negotiations in the coming weeks, as funding for federal agencies runs out on Sept. 30. Both sides will try to avoid a government shutdown in the weeks before the midterm elections, but will have to resolve differences over issues such as COVID-19 aid, which has been a sticking point for many months as the white house has said more money is needed for vaccines and testing and republicans have pointed to the trillions already approved and the money. which has not yet been spent.
In Friday’s request, the White House is asking for $7.1 billion to purchase additional vaccines and to replenish personal protective equipment in the Strategic National Stockpile, among other measures. It is also seeking $2 billion to continue testing programs, including an initiative to distribute free home tests that ended Friday as the government says it is running out of funds. White House officials say they have some tests in stock, but not enough to offer free tests if cases spike.
Congress has also made no progress on President Joe Biden’s $22.5 billion request earlier this year for the COVID-19 response. And funding is drying up for many of the community groups that received millions of federal tax dollars to encourage vaccinations.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House has repeatedly warned there would be trade-offs if this money was not approved, and “that’s exactly what happened.” The lack of free testing kits, for example, “leaves our domestic testing capacity diminished for a possible fall,” he said.
The administration is also asking for $4.5 billion to bolster its efforts to fight monkeypox. Officials said they have already used up significant reserves of the national stockpile to provide more than 1.1 million vials of vaccine.
The money would help ensure access to vaccines, testing and treatment, and also help fund the global effort to fight the disease, administration officials said.