(Washington) Lawmakers in the US Congress are scrambling to reach an agreement on new funding in the fight against COVID-19 on Wednesday, as Joe Biden and Democratic officials urge the country not to let its guard down in the face of the pandemic.
Posted at 5:07 p.m.
The US government has repeatedly said in recent weeks that federal funds for the response to the pandemic are visibly dwindling, including in terms of vaccinations, tests or drugs.
Mitt Romney, the Republicans’ chief negotiator in the Senate on the COVID-19 file, met with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss the outlines of a new multibillion-dollar round of funding.
The Republican is asking that these new funds be offset with savings made elsewhere.
The Democratic official spoke to his Senate colleagues about the need to equip themselves with tools to respond to COVID-19, in the event that a new variant were to “spread its ugly tentacles across the country”.
“I have one Republican supporting (the plan) right now, that’s me,” Mitt Romney said on CNN on Tuesday.
Chuck Schumer urges Mitt Romney to rally other Republicans to a funding proposal around 15 billion dollars, 10 opposition senators being needed to pass such a plan.
Democratic officials in the House of Representatives (the other chamber of Congress with the Senate) have expressed their hope that elected officials will vote on a financing plan before the Easter holidays, at the end of next week.
Leaving Schumer’s office on Wednesday, Mitt Romney told the press that there was still a “rift” between the two sides over how to fund the plan.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin warned that “the only thing worse than returning to the dark days of COVID-19 and deadly variants is going back there unprepared.”
“If we’re going to stay unmasked, keep our kids in school, and our businesses open, we need to make smart investments in America’s ability to deal with future strains of these variants,” he added. .
COVID-19 has moved noticeably closer to President Joe Biden’s circle in recent days as the country loosens its rules in the face of the pandemic.
Among those affected recently are Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, and her deputy, Karine Jean-Pierre.
These contaminations have complicated the communication of the White House, which affirms that the United States has begun to overcome the pandemic.
Joe Biden announced on Wednesday the launch of a new site, COVID.gov, intended to help Americans find where to get vaccines, tests, treatments and masks.
“We are now at a new moment in this pandemic. That doesn’t mean COVID-19 is over,” he said.