Ledyard King

USATODAY

WASHINGTON — As lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy continued trading jabs over Congress’ failure to pass an anti-Zika bill.

Rubio, who is running for re-election in November, and Murphy, who wants to unseat him, have accused each other for weeks of not doing enough to pass legislation that would fund a multi-pronged approach to the mosquito-borne illness that causes severe birth defects.

Murphy says Rubio should be working harder to convince his party's leadership to put reasonable legislation before lawmakers. Rubio says Murphy should have voted for previous bills that included Zika funding.

Bills in the Senate and House have died along partisan lines. As the stalemate continues, federal agencies are about to exhaust their anti-Zika resources even as the number of cases in Florida has climbed past 700, including 80 involving pregnant women.

Another Senate attempt to pass a funding bill died Tuesday evening when Democrats blocked the same GOP measure that came up in June. That bill included provisions unacceptable to Democrats, including barriers to contraception and laxer environmental standards for pesticides.

Rubio voted for the bill. Florida's other senator, Democrat Bill Nelson, voted against it.

“What’s going to happen next?” Nelson said on the Senate floor minutes before the vote. “I hope reasonable heads will prevail.”

Now that Rubio and Murphy have won last week's primaries, the campaign shifts back to Washington, with Zika as a prime debating point.

“We can’t keep putting ideology above the health and safety of Florida families,” Murphy told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. “I hope that Sen. Rubio understands that playing politics with women’s health during this serious public health crisis is dangerous.”

Rubio spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said Tuesday that Murphy "is the only candidate to have voted against every measure to fund Zika — once again putting himself and his political aspirations before Floridians. Murphy continues to exploit this public health and economic emergency in order to score political points.”

President Obama has asked Congress for months to approve $1.9 billion to expand mosquito control, vaccine research and testing kits.

Senators split in June over the Republican-authored $1.1 billion measure that included the contraception and pesticide provisions along with a provision relating to Confederate flag displays that Democrats also opposed.

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House members split along party lines in May on a $622 million GOP bill that was partly funded with money transferred from other health programs. a move Obama opposed.

Murphy said Tuesday he’s reluctant to vote for any bill that doesn't meet the president’s full funding request and that includes provisions that he considers unrelated to Zika.

“I’m just not going to give Republicans cover for failing to do their jobs,” he told reporters. “We should be listening to the experts.”