Biden administration urges Congress to fund disaster relief
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s budget director called on U.S. lawmakers on Monday to quickly pass emergency disaster relief funding in the wake of damaging storms and said it would send Congress a funding package in coming days.
Biden’s administration has made multiple requests for more disaster aid since Congress last passed supplemental funding in December 2022, but lawmakers have not acted despite multiple storms including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young said.
Severe storms also have hit Alaska, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Mexico, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois, she wrote in a memo.
“The Biden-Harris Administration stands ready to work with lawmakers to deliver the vital resources our communities need with strong bipartisan and bicameral support,” Young said, adding that disaster relief is not typically a partisan issue.
Young did not say how much the administration would seek but noted the roughly $120 billion after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017, $90 billion in 2015 after Hurricane Katrina, and $50 billion after Hurricane Sandy in 2013.
She also noted that Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who visited North Carolina last month in the wake of Hurricane Helene, had told reporters Congress would take bipartisan action to provide an “appropriate amount” of federal funds.
Representatives for Johnson could not be immediately reached for comment on the request, which requires congressional approval. A new Republican-led Congress convenes in early January and Biden leaves office Jan. 20, handing over the White House to Republican Donald Trump.
Hurricane Milton came ashore on Oct. 9 and carved a swathe of destruction across Florida, including an estimated $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion in crops and agricultural infrastructure damage alone, among other losses.
Hurricane Helene had made landfall farther north just weeks earlier.
Analysts have said they expect up to $55 billion in insured losses from this year’s Hurricanes Helene and Milton.