Zika Virus news and updates: White House Passes a Bill of $622 Million

On Tuesday, the Senate voted to advance a dual-party compromise that would provide $1.1 billion to help public health officials battle the Zika virus as it begins to threaten the continental United States.

According to sources, Senators voted 68-29 to advance an amendment by Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., to provide the emergency funding, which would be used for mosquito control, public education and the development of a vaccine. The amendment is now set to be attached to two unrelated spending bills that still must be given final approval.

"This is a bipartisan first step toward protecting families from this virus," Murray said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

President Obama wanted to pass $1.9 billion however, the Senate compromised for $622 million.

The administration has not threatened to veto the Senate's $1.1 billion compromise bill.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers said the White House has not provided "full accounting and justification for its request for Zika funds."

"Given the severity of the Zika crisis and the global health threat, we cannot afford to wait on the administration any longer," Rogers said. "We have made our own funding determinations, using what information is available and through discussions with federal agencies, to craft a proposal to fight the spread of this damaging disease."

"Let's not play with fire here," said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who pleaded with senators to support an amendment he offered with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., to provide the full $1.9 billion in funding that the Obama administration and health officials sought. "This is a devastating disease."

The Zika virus poses the biggest threat to pregnant women or women who are planning to become pregnant. It has been linked to birth defects, including microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads and incomplete brain development.