ADThe quiet but proactive effort to obtain more money reflects the White House’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in recent days. By law, HHS must wait 15 days after providing Congress notice to access the funding, an HHS representative said. In 2019, Congress created the Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Reserve Fund, which provides the agency money to respond to an outbreak immediately. The money HHS notified Congress about is separate from the congressional fund. For fiscal 2019, Trump requested no money for the Infectious Disease Rapid Response Fund, but Congress provided $50 million.

Source: Washington Post February 03, 2020 19:12 UTC