In the Senate, the Zika funding debate strayed into the old battlefield concerning the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. Some 30 lawmakers, including Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., voted to take $1.1 billion from prevention funding in the ACA and commit the money to Zika response.

Daines opposed the plan, which the Senate ultimately adopted, to pay for Zika response with emergency funding rather than cobble it together with cuts from other programs. Daines did, however, vote for the bill to which the Zika funding was added as an amendment, the 2017 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

Asked about the gamesmanship over paying for Zika response, Daines replied, “I support responsible funding for our communities to fight Zika virus."

Tester also said he isn’t completely comfortable with the $1.9 billion request requested by President Barack Obama.

“If I have any argument about what the administration has done, they haven’t been clear on how they’re going to spend the money,” Tester said. “How much is going to be spent on doing the treatment of the water? How much is going to be spent on research? That’s my only complaint. But like I said, I talked to the researcher in Hamilton, and he believes they need every bit of that $1.9 billion.”