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“It’s good to have the right policies in place,” the Denver Democrat said at the Stout Street Clinic downtown, “but you have to fund the programs or it doesn’t work.”

Throughout the year, I’ve vocally supported President Obama’s request for nearly $2 billion for Zika research, prevention and treatment. Democrats throughout Congress have done the same. But the majority refused to fully fund that effort.

DeGette is known as someone who can reach across the aisle and strike deals with Republicans. She is the chief Democratic sponsor of the 21st Century Cures Act, a major bill to expedite federal approvals of new prescription drugs and medical devices. It overwhelmingly passed the House last year and currently is being considered by the Senate.

Diana DeGette, the top Democrat on Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said multiple senior and influential Republicans have told her privately they are open to tweaking the health-care law after the November election, when they have a clearer sense of the new political landscape.

“I don’t think we’re as far away as people might think,” said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a leading abortion-rights supporter. “We got tired of tacitly accepting that a ban on Medicaid money was acceptable.”