Lawmakers Close In On Deal For $15 Billion More In Covid Funding

The Hill: Congress Nears Deal On Billions In Coronavirus Aid 
Lawmakers say they are close to an agreement to provide billions in new coronavirus relief, set to be tied to a massive government funding bill. Congress is expected to include at least $15 billion in response to the Biden administration's request for new funding for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and testing. (Carney, 3/7)

AP: White House: Congress Must Act Soon To Replenish COVID Funds 
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 unless Congress swiftly approves more funding, the White House warned. Nearly a year after passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the administration says the federal government has nearly used up the money dedicated directly to COVID-19 response. More money from Congress is urgently needed to buy antibody treatments, preventative therapy for the immunocompromised and to fund community testing sites, officials say. (Miller, 3/7)

The Biden administration is urged to do more —

The Washington Post: White House Must Go Further On New Pandemic Response, Say Former Biden Advisers, Outside Experts
Vaccinate 85 percent of Americans against the coronavirus. Ensure that people experiencing long covid can get disability benefits. Develop a plan to restore trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those are among the more than 250 discrete recommendations issued by a team of former Biden covid advisers and dozens of other outside experts on Monday, arguing that the White House must take additional steps to combat the virus and reduce the risk of other infectious diseases, with the goal of avoiding the societal disruptions that have characterized the past two years. Many of the recommendations were not included, or offer more detail, than those issued as part of the plan last week from the White House, which laid out its own “road map” to help Americans “get back to our more normal routines.” (Diamond, 3/7)

Axios: It's Time To Prepare For Future Pandemics, Experts Say
America needs major new spending in areas like disease surveillance and next-generation PPE if it wants to avoid repeating mistakes of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two reports out this week. The reports are among recent attempts by public health officials to lay out the weaknesses exposed by the pandemic and the steps needed to build more resiliency in the health system before the next crisis. "If we had another pandemic come along in the next year, I'd be very confident that it would be the same, if not worse," Devin Jopp, CEO of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, told Axios. (Reed, 3/8)

USA Today: White House COVID Plan Aims To Get More Young People Of Color Boosted
Many young people of color are not getting the COVID-19 booster shot at the same rate as young white Americans. The Biden administration said it is determined to close that gap by tapping churches, community health centers and medical professionals in communities of color to get more people vaccinated and boosted. “We need to do better and we all recognize that with equity in boosters,’’ said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden. “Equity remains an important part of any of our plans.” (Barfield Berry, 3/8)

NPR: Free COVID Test Kits Are Available Again To Order Via USPS
Americans can order more free at-home COVID-19 tests from the U.S. government at COVIDtests.gov to be shipped to their homes, the White House said on Monday. Each household can order a total of eight tests. So if you ordered four in January, when the program launched, you're eligible to order a second batch of four more. President Biden announced the move last week in his State of the Union address. On Monday, the White House released a video telling people the website was ready to go again. "Get your free tests today," Biden said, urging people to have them on hand "so we're prepared no matter what COVID-19 brings." (Keith, 3/7)

In updates from Capitol Hill —

The Washington Post: Sen. Ron Johnson Says Obamacare Should Be Repealed If GOP Wins Power Back 
Sen. Ron Johnson said he wants to see the GOP repeal the Affordable Care Act if his party wins the White House and the House and Senate majorities in 2024, a move that would resurrect a fight that Republicans had waged for nearly a decade, then largely abandoned in 2018. In an interview that aired Monday morning on Breitbart News Radio, Johnson (R-Wis.) said the GOP’s main goal was to obstruct President Biden and Democrats’ agenda until, he hoped, Republicans could win the majorities in the House and Senate in the midterm elections this year. If Republicans also won the White House in 2024, he added, that would be when they could “actually make good on what we established as our priorities.” (Wang, 3/7)

The Washington Post: Senate Unanimously Passes Anti-Lynching Bill After Century Of Failure 
The Senate on Monday unanimously passed legislation that would make lynching a federal hate crime, in a historic first that comes after more than a century of failed efforts to pass such a measure. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which was introduced by Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) in the House and Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in the Senate, now goes to President Biden for his signature. (Sonmez, 3/7)

And more on 'burn pits' —

AP: In Texas Trip, Biden To Call For More Health Care For Vets
President Joe Biden’s trip Tuesday to Fort Worth, Texas, is personal — a chance to talk with veterans and their caregivers and push for more help for members of the military who face health problems after exposure to burn pits. In last week’s State of the Union address, Biden raised the prospect of whether being near the chemicals from burn pits in Iraq led to the death of his son, Beau. (Boak, 3/8)