The Biden White House is pressuring Congress to pass a new supplemental funding request to assist with disaster relief and recovery worth roughly $100 billion.
President Joe Biden sent House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a letter about the request on Monday. It includes $40 billion to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency‘s Disaster Relief Fund and an additional $2 billion to refill the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan assistance program.
White House officials have stressed in the weeks following Hurricanes Milton and Helene that those federal programs would need to be replenished quickly as the cleanup efforts drag into the new year.
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Shalanda Young, Biden’s Office of Management and Budget director, and FEMA Director Deanne Criswell told reporters on a call detailing Monday’s request that there is a bipartisan desire to advance additional disaster aid.
Three North Carolina lawmakers, Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), sent a letter to Biden earlier in the day asking the president to advance additional disaster funds for the victims of Helene and Milton. The letter was also co-signed by four Democrats: Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Mark Warner (D-VA).
Biden’s request is not necessarily going to sail through Congress in its entirety before January when Republicans retake the Senate and President-elect Donald Trump begins his second term, especially after concerns from Republicans about FEMA’s bias. Tillis tried to pass disaster relief funding by unanimous consent on the Senate floor last week but was rejected by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
The Biden administration, however, is remaining optimistic.
“I’m not surprised that Speaker Johnson, my fellow Louisianian, has, in his own words, given people comfort that funding is on the way and there’s no room for politics and disaster relief,” Young stated Monday. “As President Biden has said, there are no Democrats, there are no Republicans when it comes to delivering this relief. With Congress back in session, the Biden-Harris administration stands ready to work with lawmakers to deliver the vital resources our communities need and expect with strong, bipartisan and bicameral support.”
Criswell noted that FEMA has spent more than $7.5 billion on relief efforts from Milton and Helene, marking it one of the costliest natural disaster cleanups in the past 20 years.
“Our agency’s mission is to help people before, during, and after disasters, no matter who they are or where they live, and this is more crucial to the American people now than ever before, and we are quickly running out of the funding we need to support this mission,” she told reporters. “We will always prioritize funding for life-saving and life-sustaining activities. FEMA continues to monitor the DRF (Disaster Relief Fund) balances daily to determine if we need to shift again to an immediate needs funding posture to continue to support the urgent needs of the communities that we serve.”
On top of the $40 billion for FEMA and $2 billion for SBA, Biden’s supplemental request also includes funding for the following departments and agencies:
- Department of Agriculture: $24 billion
- Department of Housing and Urban Development: $12 billion
- Department of Transportation: $8 billion
- Environmental Protection Agency: $4 billion
- Department of Health and Human Services: $2 billion
- Department of Commerce: $2 billion
- Department of Education: $1 billion
- Department of Energy: $1 billion
- Army Corps of Engineers: $500 million
- Department of State: $300 million
- Department of Interior: $200 million
- Department of Labor: $200 million
- Legal Services Corporation: $100 million
- AmeriCorps: $100 million
Criswell is slated to testify before Congress later this week after an administration whistleblower said that FEMA officials directly avoided contacting Florida residents earlier this month with yard signs backing Trump.
The Biden administration is conducting an internal investigation into the whistleblower’s claims, and senior administration officials declined to answer questions on the topic during Monday’s supplemental request briefing.
Criswell will appear before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday.
Florida has filed a lawsuit against FEMA regarding the claims put forward by whistleblower Marn’i Washington.
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Washington told the Washington Examiner in an interview that FEMA officials skipped visiting some houses with Trump signs as part of a policy aimed at avoiding hostile encounters.
The Washington Examiner has a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Homeland Security following up on Washington’s claims.