This means lawmakers would need to resume talks or explore other legislative avenues, with some reports they could tack it onto an expected stopgap spending bill to fund the government beyond September 30.
Advertisement
The mosquito-borne illness is especially risky for pregnant women and has been linked to serious birth defects.
As of Thursday, 705 Zika infections had been reported in Florida, the state Department of Health said.
The curtailed list of goals stems from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) motivation to allow vulnerable GOP lawmakers to return to campaigning as soon as possible.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., piqued interest among Republican and Democrats alike when he announced that his chamber would vote on a counterterrorism bill before Congress left for recess.
It is still unclear how Congress will break the impasse over Zika.
“You could easily have a situation where if Garland gets confirmed before a vote on another CR [or spending bill], a lot of Republicans might just take their vote and go home”.
That deadline makes it increasingly likely that Zika talks will merge with the larger spending debate. Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, tells CBS News he believes lawmakers might try to tack on some Zika funding to this measure as well as emergency disaster funding for Louisiana to use in its flood recovery efforts. As evidence, they point to passage of a list of bipartisan bills – to fight opioid abuse, fund highway construction, reform education programs and even raise the debt limit, an often politically hard task.
The House approved directing $622 million toward Zika in May, and the Senate passed a $1.1 billion measure.
It could change the political calculation for members who rejected the Zika bill as flawed, but want to keep the government open, Blunt said.
Republicans controlling Congress promise they won’t stumble now, but the weeks ahead could prove tricky.
A tightening presidential race and pitched warfare for control of the Senate this November promise to overshadow whatever Congress accomplishes in an election-shortened September session – which, for now, looks like little more than a temporary government-wide spending bill to prevent a shutdown at month’s end, possibly linked to money to battle Zika. But President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats are dead set against the idea – they want a full-year spending agreement completed this year – and Ryan said he wants to keep negotiating on the full-year spending bills through the fall.
Lawmakers return Tuesday to Capitol Hill for a short election-season session in which their main objective will be providing money to keep the government running, with outside hopes of providing funding to fight the Zika virus. Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, on Tuesday echoed that call. The panels – the Senate Aging, Judiciary and House Oversight Committees – are expecting briefings from Mylan this week.
Mental Health Reform – The House has already passed its version of a bill to address the nation’s mounting mental health problems, but the Senate is still struggling to come up with an alternative version.
Advertisement
McConnell also wants to advance a popular water projects measure.
