Government agrees to use existing money for Zika fight

After a tough, summer-long battle on Capitol Hill over whether to spend new dollars to combat Zika or reallocate unspent funds, the Obama administration finally agreed to use existing money to partially address the problem.

On Aug. 11, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell told congressional leaders she has been forced to raid $81 million from “other worthy government programs” in order to continue developing a Zika vaccine. The money will not come from unspent Ebola money, as did the first round of funding in April. Other accounts within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will give up funding to NIH programs working on Zika. Burwell did not specify which accounts would be affected but hinted NIH is on the “front lines” researching cures for illnesses like cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

In the letter to lawmakers, Burwell noted Zika has now been transmitted locally within the continental United States and that 15 American babies have been born with Zika-related birth defects.

The NIH still wants another $197 million for Zika in fiscal year 2017, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which will get funds taken from NIH programs, still wants $342 million more. Burwell said those two funding requests represent only a portion of the total amount still needed to fight the disease.

President Barack Obama originally asked Congress for $1.9 billion in Zika funding. The House approved $622 million, arguing unspent Ebola funds should be repurposed to fight Zika. The Senate introduced a measure that would have provided $1.1 billion, but Democrats blocked it.

In a statement released the same day as Burwell’s letter, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blamed Republicans for the stalemate.

“Republicans’ incomprehensible inaction on Zika is forcing HHS to raid critical health initiatives just to stave off a needless and dangerous delay of Zika vaccine development,” she said.

At a Capitol Hill press conference Friday, Pelosi challenged Republicans for taking a summer recess instead of agreeing to the $1.9 billion request.

“This money is needed where it was, for Ebola and the rest,” she said. “I don’t want any inference to be drawn that the money is not necessary where it is in the fight against Ebola, and biomedical research, all of the other purposes of the Department of Health and Human Services.”

Fiscally conservative Republicans, on the other hand, count the action as a win, since they wanted the president to use existing money all along.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a statement he asked repeatedly for the administration to reprogram funds for Zika, noting additional money could have been approved in the Senate bill—the one Democrats blocked.

“Today’s action is long overdue, and the Obama administration should do even more to find unspent funds that can be redirected toward fighting Zika in Florida,” Rubio said.