Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ripped a GOP deal to provide $1.1 billion to fight the Zika virus hours after it passed the House.
“It’s a disgrace. It’s a mockery of how Congress should treat an emergency,” he said from the Senate floor. “This is something that I’m sorry to say is part of the McConnell-Trump tactics we’ve found lately.”
{mosads}Reid’s comments come after House Republicans approved the plan in an early morning vote over the protest of Democrats.
The Zika deal — which is attached to a larger military and veterans spending bill — would be partially paid for by using money from other health department proprieties, including the Ebola virus fund.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to temper Democratic opposition, saying the House-passed deal “represents our only chance to put Zika control money to work right now.”
“The House did its part. Now the Senate needs to do its part,” he added.
The Senate also approved $1.1 billion in Zika funding earlier this year, but Democrats quickly dismissed the deal from the conference committee because of how it is paid for.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) who helped spearhead the Senate’s Zika proposal, ripped the conference committee report as “hyper-partisan” and “more about throwing red meat to the Tea Party than actually tackling the crisis.”
Senate Democrats have pushed for Congress to pass the Obama administration’s full $1.9 billion request, a move that has found little support among Republicans.