Zika funding bill blocked by Senate Democrats over GOP funding scheme

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a $1.1 billion Zika virus funding package because they contend it does not provide enough spending and includes politically motivated language aimed at Planned Parenthood and environmental regulations.

Senate Republicans said the failure to advance the legislation would mean that Congress will likely be unable to address the threat posed by Zika for weeks because of the upcoming congressional recess.

The vote was 52 to 48 and 60 votes were needed to advance the legislation.

The debate in advance of the vote grew heated with both sides charging the other would be responsible if money isn't approved and the virus, which causes birth defects, begins to spread in the United States over the summer.

[It's just a matter of time before a traveler brings Zika to Alaska, officials say]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., charged Democrats were quibbling over minor provisions and standing in the way of spending that could help avert a public health crisis.

"There is no reason Democrats should reverse course now and block funding for Zika control in the midst of mosquito season," McConnell said, noting the final legislation contains the same amount of funding as an earlier bipartisan Senate agreement. "There's no reason they should put partisan politics above the health of pregnant women and babies."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., shot back that GOP leaders were catering the extreme wing of their party by including language in the package that would put restrictions on how the funding could be used by Planned Parenthood and by offsetting the cost of the legislation through spending cuts to the Affordable Care Act and funds set aside to prepare for a possible outbreak of the Ebola virus.

"Republicans are pushing a conference report that is nothing more than a goodie bag for the fringes of the Republican party," he said.

The funding package, which was passed by the House last week and attached to a larger bill providing funding for veterans and military construction programs, was negotiated by House and Senate Republicans in recent weeks after Democrats abandoned bipartisan talks due to the spending cuts included in the legislation and what they viewed as "poison pill" political provisions, according to Democratic aides.

Lawmakers in both parties could face blowback at home for failing to craft a measure that can pass both the House and Senate. Zika is linked to severe birth defects in babies of pregnant women who are infected with the virus.

Three women on the U.S. mainland have given birth to infants with birth defects related to Zika. The CDC is currently monitoring 234 women on the U.S. mainland and another 189 with Zika in Puerto Rico.

The House-passed measure would provide $1.1 billion to fight the mosquito-borne virus through Sept. 2017, including funds to help develop a vaccine. The spending would be offset by $750 million in savings, including $107 million in unused Ebola funds, $100 million in cuts to administrative funding for the Department Health and Human Services and $534 million from unspent Obamacare money for health care exchanges in U.S. territories. The package loosens Environmental Protection Agency restrictions on pesticides and strikes a measure that would have banned display of the Confederate Battle Flag at cemeteries run by the Department of Veterans affairs.

The White House has threatened to veto the legislation and Democrats argue the additions were politically motivated and intended to kill the entire funding package.

"It's like we're being dared to oppose this legislation," Reid said on Monday. "We have no choice."

Senate Democrats made a last-minute attempt to salvage the legislation Tuesday morning by sending a letter to McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., requesting that they reopen negotiations.

"We stand ready to work cooperatively with you to address this national public health emergency," they wrote.

Republican leaders did not respond but any chance of new negotiations is slim. The House left town last week and will not return until after the July 4 holiday. Both chambers will be in for two weeks before heading out on a seven week recess.