Our Take

FY2022 Omnibus (Temporarily) Included the Seventh COVID-19 Supplemental

Amounts are smaller than the President’s Request and “Paid-for”

Mar 9, 2022 | 4 min read | Print Article

As originally introduced, Division M of the Omnibus spending bill, H.R. 2471, contains what will be the seventh supplemental spending bill in response to COVID-19. The $15.6 billion appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is nearly $7 billion less than the $22.5 billion the President requested. Unlike the previous six “emergency” COVID-19 supplementals, ~~spending in this one is “paid for” by eliminating spending authority for unspent funds from previous supplementals~~.

**UPDATE: After a number of House Democrats expressed opposition to the rescission of $7 billion in unspent ARP state relief funds, Democratic Leadership announced they would be removing the COVID-19 supplemental portion of the bill**

Department of Health and Human Services

Congress reduced the topline number primarily by not funding HHS programs as the president requested. The bill contains $10.6 billion for HHS’s Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, $5 billion less than the president requested. It also lacks the $1.05 billion requested for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Finally, the bill contains no additional funds for HHS’s Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) to continue reimbursements for testing, treatment, and vaccination of the uninsured. The administration claimed funds for these reimbursements, which are currently funded through previous emergency spending bills, would run out in April or May. Congress, apparently, disagrees.

HHS Funding in FY2022 Omnibus Compared to the President’s Request

	$18.25 billion President’s Request	$10.6 billion FY2022 Omnibus
Purchase monoclonal antibodies, oral antivirals, vaccines, and pediatric booster vaccines	$12.2 billion	$9.85 billion at least $5 billion of which must be spent on therapeutics
No cost community testing, manufacturing capacity, and purchase of at home rapid antigen tests	$2 billion	Not specified
Vaccine Research for New Variants	$1.5 billion	$750 million
Health Resources and Services Administration	$1.5 billion	Not funded
CDC – Surveillance of Variants and Global Vaccine Efforts	$1.05 billion	Not funded

Department of State and USAID

The Omnibus does adhere closer to the president’s $4.25 billion spending request when it comes to providing funds for Department of State and USAID COVID-19 response efforts overseas. The Omnibus provides $4.5 billion to the “Global Health Fund” and related administrative accounts to promote vaccination and humanitarian assistance abroad. In addition $425 million is appropriated for International Disaster Assistance (IDA) and $75 million for Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) accounts to provide food, water, healthcare, and other protections for communities affected by COVID-19.

(Almost) Paid for – Sort of

A unique, and apparently fatal flaw, to this COVID-19 supplemental, was that the entire cost was offset. Specifically, the bill would rescind unobligated funds still sitting in various accounts after they were appropriated in the CARES Act, American Rescue Plan, or other COVID supplementals. Rescinding funds that have been available but not tapped for months and in some cases nearly two years to instead spend on pressing priorities is something fiscal conservatives have repeatedly suggested.

Offsets for COVID-19 spending as included in the original version of H.R. 2471: