White House eyes additional cash for Pentagon, Homeland Security as virus outbreak widens

The White House budget office will send Congress another funding request that would potentially bolster the Pentagon, the VA and Homeland Security as federal agencies work to contain the coronavirus outbreak, an administration official told POLITICO on Sunday night.

The Office of Management and Budget plans to ask Congress for the funds sometime mid-week, said the official, who could not provide a dollar estimate or detail specific agency needs, citing the early nature of the discussions. The official did note that the request will focus on meeting the operational needs of agencies on the front lines of the response.

Additional funding for the Department of Health and Human Services was largely addressed in an emergency $8.3 billion bill passed by Congress earlier this month, the official said. The Trump administration had initially asked for just $2.5 billion, only half of which would have stemmed from new funding.