White House to announce funding to fight drug addiction

The Obama administration said Thursday it plans to announce “a significant federal investment” to fight opioid abuse, just hours after a final failed attempt by Senate Democrats to add federal funding to legislation on the issue.

Department of Health and Human Secretary (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell will reveal the additional federal funding in Baltimore, flanked by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford (R).

{mosads}Burwell will speak one day after the Senate passed a bill on opioid abuse that GOP leaders have pitched as Congress’s most substantial work to date to fight drug abuse. The bill has been criticized by Democrats and the White House for lacking new funding.

All but one senator voted Thursday to support the bill, ending several weeks of opposition by Senate Democrats, who pressed for about $600 million in additional federal funding.

Democrats — led by Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) — took a final stand on the Senate floor Thursday morning, blasting Republicans for blocking their efforts to add more funding to the bill. All three eventually supported it.

The White House had also taken a stand against the bill, which spokesman Josh Earnest said did not include enough funding to begin addressing the problem. Still, he fell short of a direct veto threat.

Burwell, who hails from West Virginia, a state ravaged by drug abuse, has said she feels personally connected to the issue. She will also spend time Friday touring Baltimore’s Chase Brexton Health Services clinic, which offers substance abuse services.