Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Future Covid Funding At Risk In Senate Tussle On Ukraine, Borders
Politico: Dems Edge Closer To Giving GOP A Border Vote As A Price For Covid Aid
Two Senate Democratic leaders say they are willing to give Republicans a vote on reversing President Joe Biden’s move to end pandemic-era border restrictions, provided that the GOP then agrees to move a stalled $10 billion coronavirus aid deal. It’s a notable shift in Democratic strategy, weeks after the Covid aid package was sidetracked amid Republican demands for an amendment vote on Biden’s decision to lift the public health-related border restrictions. Now that a $40 billion Ukraine aid package is moving without the Covid funding boost that they’d hoped to pair it with, Senate Democrats are warming to the idea of letting Republicans have a vote on immigration if that’s what it takes to prepare the United States for a fall coronavirus surge. (Levine and Everett, 5/10)
The Hill: Future Of COVID-19 Funds In Doubt As Ukraine Aid Advances
Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said he was “concerned” when asked if he was worried that COVID-19 funding might not happen. “I’m sorry that the Republicans don’t share the sense of urgency,” he added. When it comes to COVID-19 funding, Republicans are insisting on a vote to reverse the Biden administration’s move to lift a Trump-era policy at the southern border, known as Title 42, that allows for rapid expulsion of migrants in the name of public health and prevents them from seeking asylum. (Sullivan, 5/10)
In other news from Capitol Hill —
AP: Judge Won't Make Sen. Warren Retract Letter About COVID Book
A federal judge in Seattle has declined to order Sen. Elizabeth Warren to retract statements she made criticizing a book that promotes misinformation about COVID-19 and suggesting that companies that sold it might face liability. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein on Monday issued an order rejecting the request by the publisher and authors of the book “The Truth About COVID-19,” which accuses the “global elite” of using the pandemic to grab “unprecedented power.” (Johnson, 5/10)
KHN: Senate GOP Puts Up Roadblocks To Bipartisan House Bill For Veterans’ Burn Pit Care
Thousands of military veterans who are sick after being exposed to toxic smoke and dust while on duty are facing a Senate roadblock to ambitious legislation designed to provide them care. The Senate could start work as soon as this week on a bipartisan bill, called the Honoring Our PACT Act, that passed the House of Representatives in March. It would make it much easier for veterans to get health care and benefits from the Veterans Health Administration if they get sick because of the air they breathed around massive, open-air incineration pits. The military used those pits in war zones around the globe — sometimes the size of football fields — to burn anything from human and medical waste to plastics and munitions, setting it alight with jet fuel. (McAuliff, 5/11)
