According to the White House, US President Joe Biden would ask Congress for $22.4 billion in COVID-19 relief in anticipation of a potential autumn case spike and $11.7 billion in emergency funds to offer lethal aid and fiscal support to Ukraine.
According to Shalanda Young, head of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the emergency budget request would also contain $2 billion to address the effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine on the US energy supply.
The request is made before the 2022 fiscal year’s deadline of September 30. Young said senators would likely need to adopt a stopgap funding package to give them more time to negotiate a more favorable 2023 financing plan because Congress has not yet enacted one.
According to Young, the White House will also request $6.5 billion for natural disaster assistance and $3.9 billion to combat a monkeypox virus epidemic as part of the interim measure known as a continuing resolution (CR).
When legislators return from their summer break the following week, it is anticipated that Congress will struggle with CR debates to keep the government fully operational through September 30.
The CR measure may allow Congress to add the White House’s anomaly-style emergency demands. Additionally, it will enable Congress to swiftly approve such funding while Democrats and Republicans disagree over the most critical expenditures for the fiscal year beginning on October 1.
