In Brief: US COVID-19 bill includes over $11B for global pandemic relief

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Saturday that includes more than $11 billion in funding for the global pandemic response.

The bill, which narrowly passed, includes $800 million for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Food for Peace program, $750 million for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention global funding, and about $10 billion in international affairs funding, which could support bilateral global health accounts, humanitarian aid, economic assistance, and possibly multilateral funding. It is unclear at this time exactly how all the funds in the broader international affairs account will be allocated.

Why it matters: This is the largest amount of funding for the global response included in any of the COVID-19 relief bills by the U.S. Congress since the start of the pandemic. While it would bring the amount of U.S. funding for the global response to 0.4% of all approved COVID-19 emergency funding, it falls short of the $20 billion advocates have been pushing for.

What’s next: The Senate will now consider the bill, and changes to some of the domestic policies and funding are expected. Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate and could be under pressure to make concessions to pass the bill, but advocates hope the global funding will remain. Democrats are aiming to pass the bill by mid-March.