Passage of a $10 billion deal on another round of emergency pandemic funding stalled last week as Congress adjourned Friday for a two-week Easter recess.

Senate Republicans blocked a procedural motion to begin debate on the funding bill, as they wanted Democrats to allow a vote on an amendment that would extend an order that made it easier to deport migrants at the border. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invoked Title 42, a World War II-era public health law in March 2020, and was announced by the CDC to be terminated on May 23rd. The White House Administration has pointed out that Title 42 is a public health measure, not an immigration one, which the CDC has authority over.

Senator Charles Grassley (R) told KCII before the Easter recess that he would have voted against the bill if it had been put to a floor vote, “I hear from Iowans that they are so afraid of inflation. I think they’re begging us not to spend like we’re drunken sailors, that we ought to be more careful on what we spend. There is one positive thing to say about the legislation, I think it’s going to be paid for by repurposing some money leftover from the COVID relief bills that we passed.”

This round of pandemic funding is proposed for domestic needs for vaccines, tests, and therapeutic drug treatment. About $5 billion in international aid to combat the pandemic abroad was dropped from the deal, and the final amount is less than half of the $22.5 billion figure initially requested by the White House.