Top Republicans, who were already wary of approving more money for Covid-19, said on Monday that President Joe Biden’s comments that “the pandemic is over” effectively shut the door on the slim chance of more money being approved.
“It certainly makes it extremely difficult,” Sen. Whip John Thune, R-South Dakota, told CNN. “Also, it begs the question of why he is (approving) other measures related to the pandemic, such as student loan write-offs, cancellations.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas and a member of the leadership, responded by saying, “If it ends, then I wouldn’t suspect any more money is needed.”
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the ranking Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wrote to the White House on Monday to ask for “clarification on whether this means the state of emergency is over because many things change.”
“I don’t think they would make money for Covid anyway,” Burr said.
In an interview that aired Sunday with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Biden said he believes the Covid-19 pandemic is “over,” but acknowledged the U.S. still has a “problem” with the virus that has killed more than 1 million Americans.
“The pandemic is over,” Biden said in the interview. “We still have a problem with Covid. We are still doing a lot of work on it. It is – but the pandemic is over.”
Despite Biden’s remarks, the White House pushed for $22.5 billion in additional Covid aid to help with vaccines, testing and therapeutics. In April, senators from both parties reached a $10 billion deal on Covid aid, but it stalled over an unrelated dispute over an immigration amendment. Before that, a separate package of Covid money was removed from a government spending bill because of opposition from a bloc of House Democrats over spending cuts to pay for it.
“Covid aid is not going to happen,” Sen. Mitt Romney, the Utah Republican who cut the $10 billion deal that stalled in the spring, told CNN. “Not with Republican votes.”
The White House has been pushing for Covid aid to be included in the continuing resolution that must pass to keep government agencies afloat for the past month, but there is virtually no chance of that happening now.
Democrats rejected Biden’s remarks.
“The variations are still out there,” Senate Whip Dick Durbin said when asked about Biden’s comment. “We’re all hoping it’s going to end – nobody’s going to predict for sure that it is. I’m not.”
Asked about Biden’s statement, the Illinois Democrat added: “He might know more than I do. I’m sure he does.”
Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, said: “Covid is not over.” He added: “We need help.”
This story has been updated with additional developments on Monday.
