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Feeling Heat on Zika, Senate Republicans to Approve Funds

  • Roy Blunt says $1.1 billion could be added to spending bills
  • Democrats, White House continue to push for $1.9 billion
Adult mosquitoes are seen in an egg production cage in the laboratory at the Oxitec Ltd. facility in Campinas, Brazil, on March 1, 2016.

Adult mosquitoes are seen in an egg production cage in the laboratory at the Oxitec Ltd. facility in Campinas, Brazil, on March 1, 2016.

Photographer: Paulo Fridman/Bloomberg
Updated on

Senate Republicans plan to approve at least $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus in the next week or so, amid intensifying pressure to combat the spread of the mosquito-borne illness. 

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, the Republican who chairs the spending subcommittee that oversees health funding, said he wants to add $1.1 billion in emergency funding to a package of spending bills coming to the Senate floor this week. That figure falls short of the White House’s request for $1.9 billion to combat the virus, which is believed to cause serious birth defects. It could also trigger a fight with House Republicans, who are demanding offsetting spending cuts.