This could be the end of the line for congressional funding to fight COVID-19.

A month ago, President Joe Biden requested $30 billion for pandemic response. House Democrats agreed to allocate $15.6 billion.

However, the Democrats’ $15.6 billion provision may be falling apart on Capitol Hill. It has almost no chance of passing in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans have indicated they are unwilling to provide more money without cuts elsewhere or a full accounting from the Biden administration of already-approved virus funding.

That means it’s highly likely no new federal money will be readily approved to fight COVID as the pandemic moves to what many officials are now calling the endemic stage.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the turn of events “heartbreaking.”

The Democrats tried to add President Joe Biden’s request for new virus aid to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, $1.5 trillion spending bill which must pass by the end of the week in order to keep the federal government operating through the end of the fiscal year.

Both parties support the $1.5 trillion bill as a whole. Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have each spoken favorably of the bill — especially the $13.6 billion dedicated for aid to Ukraine, where the Russian military is continuing its deadly invasion.

However, some Republicans take issue with the bill’s provision for pandemic response. Many have asked to separate the Ukraine provision from the rest of the bill in order to vote on it separately.

Biden’s initial $30 billion request was reduced to $22 billion when the administration submitted it to Congress, as the White House warned the U.S. will soon begin to run out of money to bolster COVID-19 testing supplies and to guarantee that uninsured Americans keep getting free treatment for the virus.

But as Democrats and Republicans negotiated on Capitol Hill, the final COVID funding package was slashed further to $15.6 billion as part of the broader budget deal. Most of the money would have gone to increasing U.S. supplies of vaccines, treatments and tests and battling the disease around the world.

Pelosi’s compromise backfired as rank-and-file Democrats revolted Wednesday over the final product.

A White House official said late Wednesday that without COVID resources the situation will be “dire” for the American people. The official was granted anonymity to discuss the situation.

As part of the deal, Republicans insisted that the $15.6 billion COVID-19 aid package be fully paid for. They recommended repurposing virus aid that was already promised to the states but which has remained untapped so far.

Dozens of Democrats were counting on new money, and they indicated their opposition to what was seen as an unfair swap.

“To turn around and now say we’re taking hundreds of billions of dollars back in the name of bipartisanship is just unbelievable,” said Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo, a self-described socialist.

Bush was among several Democratic lawmakers who said their states had already planned to use the money for health care, child care, schools and other essentials during the coronavirus crisis. Bush said she would “vehemently oppose efforts to snatch back the lifesaving resources we need to fully and equitably recover from this pandemic.”

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said in an interview that her state would have lost nearly $600 million in pandemic assistance that it was entitled to. “My job is to fight for the people of Michigan,” she said.

Pelosi had no choice but to abandon the plan. Instead, the Democratic leader pushed forward a standalone COVID bill that doesn’t rely on the offsetting funds, a strategy that ensures more party support but is certain to lose Republican backing. A planned Wednesday vote was postponed until next week.

By announcing her decision to separate the COVID provision from the rest of the bill, Pelosi angered some House Democrats.

In closed-door meetings, she expressed anger at some of the congressmembers who voiced these criticisms, according to an insider’s remarks to CNN.

That insider said that Pelosi directed much of her anger at Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat from Wisconsin and a member of the House Progressive Caucus.

If approved, the package would face an uncertain outcome in the the Senate, where Republicans have made it clear they are unlikely to back any new pandemic aid unless the previously approved funds are spent.

A letter from Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and signed by 35 other Republican senators regarding Biden’s initial request said, “It is not yet clear why additional funding is needed.”

The senators said they wanted “a full accounting” of how some $6 trillion in government funds from the outbreak of the pandemic has been spent.

The White House official said failing to act now on COVID funding will have “severe consequences” for the American people.

The official said that COVID testing capacity would decline by the end of the month, the fund offering coverage for testing and treatments for tens of millions of Americans without health insurance would run out of money in April and America’s supply of monoclonal antibodies will run out in May.

Congress approved the the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan nearly a year ago, but the administration says the federal government has nearly used up the money dedicated directly to COVID-19 response. For that reason, officials are begging Congress for more money to fund antibody treatments, preventative therapy for the immunocompromised and community testing sites.

 

Flashback: Schumer and McConnell announce $1.5 trillion spending deal

 

The Horn News and the Associated Press contributed to this article.