Congress' standalone bill for $15.6 billion in COVID funding faces dim prospects

Washington — A dispute in the House over how to pay for $15.6 billion in additional funding to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Congress to pursue the relief through standalone legislation after it was stripped from the massive $1.5 trillion government spending bill that cleared the lower chamber Wednesday.

But the prospects of both chambers approving more money to fund the fight against COVID-19 appear to be dim, since the $15.6 billion measure from House Democrats faces steep odds to passage in the evenly-divided Senate.

It's unclear when the House will vote on the separate bill introduced by House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, on Wednesday, as House Democrats decamped Washington for a retreat in Philadelphia after passing the sweeping spending measure and legislation banning Russian oil imports into the United States late Wednesday night.