White House Asks Congress for Billions in COVID, Monkeypox Funding

The White House is set to request $22.4 billion in funding for the ongoing COVID-19 response effort and $3.9 billion for the monkeypox response effort in the form of emergency funding from Congress, senior administration officials announced on Friday. “Without additional funding, we will have to make more difficult decisions,” a senior administration official said late last week. The federal government on Friday suspended the program for free COVID-19 tests to be sent to Americans. Officials argued that a lack of funding has prevented them from adequately replenishing national stockpiles of at-home tests. The updated request for COVID-19 funding is to meet immediate short-term domestic needs, including testing and would support the global response to COVID-19 and help to prepare for future variants. Read more from The Hill here.