By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The prospects for a U.S. $10 billion COVID-19 relief bill were complicated Tuesday by the Senate Republicans’ request to connect the bill with a vote on border restriction and the concerns of some House Democrats about the fact that the plan did not include international assistance.

These competing demands were made as the top Democrats sought to pass the bill. This is less than half of the $22 million President Joe Biden requested before the two-week recess begins late this week.

Senator Republican Leader Mitch McConnell stated to reporters that his caucus would like to see a resolution to preserve Title 42 border crossing restrictions imposed by Donald Trump in early COVID.

McConnell announced that Title 42 will need an amendment in order to pass the bill. McConnell also stated at a press conference that Chuck Schumer, his Democratic counterpart in Congress, must agree to an amendment process to proceed.

The specifics of the other amendments that Republicans would like to vote for were not known.

Schumer rejected the idea of funding immigration twinning with COVID-19, saying to reporters that it should not be taken hostage for an unrelated issue.

On Monday, Senate negotiators under Republican Mitt Romney unveiled the bill. The package dropped international aid. This bill will provide additional funding to make vaccines free of cost, and increase surveillance and testing. [nL2N2W22BK ]

Due to the absence of an international assistance provision, it received mixed reactions from Democrats in Congress. If it was passed by the Senate, the House will take up the legislation.

Rashida Tlaib, an influential progressive Representative said she didn’t think it made sense for a bill to be passed. Tlaib also made remarks suggesting that Democrats may have problems passing the measure in the House which they control narrowly by 221-209.

Tlaib stated to reporters that she is unsure whether or not to support the bill. She argued that the United States must ensure sufficient global resources to combat COVID-19.

“A lot of the success that we can have in crushing COVID-19 is making sure we understand that this is a global issue, just like climate,” said Tlaib, a member of the progressive group known as “The Squad.”

Some House Democrats were reluctant to support the bill.

I’ll be supporting it. However, I find it kinda sucks,” Jim McGovern, Chairman of the House Rules Committee told Reuters.

A Title 42 amendment vote could complicate the pathway forward for COVID assistance. If a Senate vote makes the restrictions part of the legislation, it may also make things more difficult. A supermajority vote of 60 votes required to pass a Title 42 amendment in the 100-seat chamber wasn’t clear.

U.S. officials expect to stop the massive, pandemic-related expulsion policies that effectively closes down U.S. immigration at the Mexican border. Trump issued the restriction in March 2020.

In the face of Republican resistance to federal spending, Congress did not pass $15.6 billion in relief bills. Many Democrats, however, refused to take back funds earmarked to support state and local government in order to finance the latest round of coronavirus aid.

This week’s House vote was expected on legislation that replenishes a last-year fund which provides grants federally to small business and restaurants that have been affected by the COVID pandemic. According to the National Restaurant Association, the bill would fund around $40 billion for approximately 177,000 restaurants who applied for assistance under the law 2021 but did not receive any funding because of lack of funds.