Biosecurity

Senate leaders in talks to approve Zika funding

Senate GOP leaders are in talks to advance a major funding package to fight the Zika virus, marking the end of a months-long battle between the GOP and the White House.

“We’re happy a Zika supplemental is finally in play,” Sen. Barbara Mikulski (Md.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement to The Hill on Wednesday.

“We’re in ongoing talks with Republicans, and it looks promising,” Mikulski said.

The Senate GOP’s efforts to approve funding for the Zika virus before the completion of this year’s appropriations process comes after a weeks-long dispute between administration officials and the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee.

President Obama has requested nearly $2 billion in emergency funding for a national response to the mosquito-borne virus, which can cause life-threatening birth defects in infants.