Senior Senate Republicans, including the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, say they do not support the Biden administration’s request for another $22.5 billion to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hill reported. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Appropriations panel, yesterday said that he doesn’t support doling out another $22.5 billion for COVID-19 relief when billions of dollars in federal aid remain unspent. “No, I don’t,” he said when asked if he thought the administration’s request is warranted. “I think that we ought to determine — and we’ve asked the administration — how much unspent money is there. There are billions of dollars unspent. Shelby made his comments a day after the acting White House budget director, Shalanda Young, sent a letter to Capitol Hill requesting $22.5 billion to address “immediate needs to avoid disruption to ongoing COVID response efforts over the next few months.” Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said Shelby’s view is “very widely” held in the Senate GOP conference and predicted there would be strong Republican resistance to adding $22.5 billion in new COVID-19 relief to a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package negotiators are trying to wrap up by March 11.
