Senators reach tentative deal on $10 billion in additional Covid funding, Romney says

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) walks through the Senate Subway on his way to a security briefing for senators on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 30, 2022.

Senate Republicans and Democrats have reached a tentative deal on $10 billion in additional Covid funding, less than half the amount that President Joe Biden had requested to shore up the nation's response to a potential infectious disease wave.

Romney told reporters that he had a deal with Schumer to cover the spending by redirecting money from the American Rescue Plan. The White House had asked for $22.50 billion from Congress.

If Congress didn't act, the U.S. would not have enough Covid vaccine for everyone this fall. The uninsured would no longer have coverage for Covid testing, treatments and vaccinations according to the White House. According to administration officials, the U.S. would face shortages of drugs.

It is not clear what the package would cover. The Congressional Budget Office would have to approve the funding being balanced by offsets.

House Democrats wanted to pass Covid money as part of a larger government funding package. Nancy Pelosi pulled the Covid funding after Republicans and Democrats couldn't agree on how to pay for it.

The GOP insisted on covering any new spending by clawing back money already appropriated for state and local governments, but Democrats refused to do that.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the variant of omicron called BA.2 is spreading in the U.S. Concerns have been raised that the subvariant of BA.2 could cause a new Covid outbreak in the U.S.

Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical advisor, said earlier this month that he doesn't think there will be another surge of infections in the U.S. Epidemiologists say the U.S. could face another wave in the fall as people move indoors due to the cold weather.