Congressional negotiators are slated to announce a deal for $10 billion in additional funding for the U.S. Covid response, but were unable to agree on global aid and dropped it from the agreement, the Washington Post reported. The package would enable U.S. officials to purchase more therapeutics, tests, vaccines and other supplies, after the White House repeatedly warned that it needed new funding for those things. But it includes no money for the global response, which Biden officials have said is critical to protect Americans from the emergence of new, potentially dangerous variants in other parts of the world that would likely make their way to the United States. Senate negotiators, including Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), were seeking a compromise with Democrats, after lawmakers could not agree on a $15 billion package that would have included about $10 billion in domestic funding and $5 billion for the international response. The deal set to be announced Monday is expected to repurpose funding from previous stimulus packages, lawmakers said last week.
