WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans controlling both the House and the Senate are facing tricky negotiations with each other and the White House over how to handle the public health threat posed by the Zika virus.
In the House, a partisan 241-184 vote Wednesday night to pass a $622 million bill to battle the Zika virus puts conservative-dominated House members at odds with senators who have embraced a bipartisan compromise that President Barack Obama can live with.
Democrats lined up in opposition, heeding a White House veto threat and warnings from top government health officials that the bill wouldn’t do enough to respond to the growing threat from Zika.
The $1.1 billion Senate compromise has cleared a filibuster and is on track to be added to an unrelated spending bill on Thursday.