WASHINGTON — Top lawmakers in Congress have approved the use of leftover Afghanistan war money to fight Ebola in West Africa.
But just $50 million of President Barack Obama’s $1 billion request has been approved for immediate use, under the opaque process by which congressional panels OK transfers between agency accounts. a House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman said
The final hurdle was the approval of Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who protested that the Pentagon has provided virtually no details about the mission, which would send the military to Africa to help with the logistics of fighting the dangerous virus. Inhofe signed off on the request on Wednesday.
The rest of the money will be released after the Pentagon offers a detailed spending plan and briefs key Capitol Hill committees on the mission.