President Barack Obama is asking Congress for $1.5 billion in emergency spending to deal with the swine flu outbreak, according to a Congressional aide.

The request comes as Democratic appropriators in both chambers signaled their intention to add spending for pandemic flu preparedness to the upcoming war supplemental. The Democrats’ move comes after Republican Senators, led by Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), nixed $870 million in flu funding from the federal stimulus package that passed in February.