Richard Cowan and David Morgan

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Top lawmakers in Washington drafted a $15.6 billion COVID-19 relief plan Wednesday to meet the opposition of the Democratic-led Congress. This was in response to a $1.5 trillion bill that would have funded the federal government as well as aid Ukraine.

Nancy Pelosi (House of Representatives Speaker) wrote to her colleagues stating that Republicans had resisted funding the bill and that many House Democrats disagreed with the manner in which it was handled. Pelosi stated that the $15.6 billion total was being taken out of the spending bill “omnibus”, to finance government activities until Sept. 30, as a result.

“We must proceed with the omnibus today, which includes emergency funding for Ukraine and urgent funding to meet the needs of America’s families,” Pelosi wrote.

This news comes after more than 4 hours of deliberation on the legislation, and votes had been frozen. The Democratic leadership tried to solve the issue.

This legislation includes $13.6 million in humanitarian and security assistance for Ukraine. On Wednesday, the House is expected to vote on a separate bill to ban U.S. oil imports from Russia in protest at Moscow’s invasion.

Democrats control Congress with razor thin margins and Republicans signed the $1.5 Trillion deal in an instant. A House aide stated that some states could lose hundreds of millions in federal aid due to the proposed new allocations for COVID-19 relief.

Remarks on the news were not immediately received by Senate and House top Republicans.

Due to the fact that the money to support the federal government will expire Friday at midnight, the House is expected to vote on another measure to continue funding the government until Tuesday.

It was intended to be a necessary housekeeping task so congressional clerks have sufficient time to deal with the “omnibus”, legislation that follows passage of Senate and House bills. If existing funding ends on Friday at midnight, this clerical work might continue beyond that time.

Shalanda, the White House’s Acting Budget Director, asked the Senate and House to quickly act to expedite the transfer of the Ukraine aid measure and its funding to the White House in order to get President Joe Biden to sign it.

Young released a statement saying that “the bipartisan funding bill proves both parties can work together to deliver for American citizens and advance crucial national priorities.”

It was expected that the House will vote on the bill banning Russian energy imports. This legislation adds to Biden’s recently announced ban and includes moves that would allow Russia to be reviewed for membership in the World Trade Organization. To ease further U.S. sanction on Russia, it would renew and extend the Magnitsky Human Rights Law.

They stated that the omnibus spending plan will increase funding for domestic priorities. It includes money for infrastructure, which was passed in a previous bipartisan bill to improve U.S roads, bridges, and broadband internet.

Plan includes non-defense funding of $730 billion and defense funding funding at $782 billion.

Pelosi, U.S. Senate Majority Lead Chuck Schumer stated in a joint statement that the bipartisan agreement would help them address “many of the major problems we face at home” and “a lot more,” respectively.

The new security measures are designed to safeguard the U.S. from attacks by Russia or other malicious actors.

Pelosi said that the measure would also reauthorize Violence Against Women Act. Schumer agreed.