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White House Requests $45.8 Billion In Emergency Funding Due To Coronavirus
The White House Office of Management and Budget late Tuesday submitted an emergency funding request to Congress for an additional $45.8 billion — a sweeping request for new funds and statutory authority across the federal government to address the growing coronavirus pandemic.
The request came on the same day the Trump administration presented a $1 trillion stimulus proposal on Capitol Hill.
“With the pandemic growing, resource needs have also grown,” wrote Russell Vought, the acting OMB director, in a letter attached to the 118-page request that was sent to lawmakers late Tuesday night.
The request comes on top of the $8.3 billion in emergency funding passed by Congress just two weeks ago and underscores just how dramatically financial demands at federal agencies have grown in a matter of days.
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The request is also viewed by the administration as coming in tandem with the large-scale economic stimulus negotiation, which is expected to have a price tag north of $1 trillion and is currently underway on Capitol Hill.
The request “is not intended as a broad-based solution to the major economic dislocation wrought by the virus, nor is it the primary means by which the Federal Government plans to address the hardships of families, individuals, and communities who have been touched by the disease,” Vought wrote. “We are currently in active dialogue with the Congress on additional proposals that speak to these broader, vital issues.”
The letter to Congress includes a detailed list of how the money would be allocated across the administration, identifying many areas of need that White House officials say must be funded to properly respond to the pandemic.
Negotiators are planning to include the emergency funding request in the stimulus package currently being discussed, congressional aides tell newsmen
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