WASHINGTON – Congress may break its six-week recess and return to Washington in the final days before an extremely close election that will approve emergency spending for recovery and response after Hurricane Helene.
Lawmakers are not scheduled to return to Washington until after Election Day on Nov. 5, but President Joe Biden indicated Monday during remarks about the storm that he might ask Congress to return early to consider the emergency spending request.
Whether that happens will be up to Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.
How much pressure the two will feel to shorten the pause will likely depend on when the White House budget office sends Congress an emergency request for additional spending, how quickly federal agencies expect to run out of money and how urgent the need proves.
By Monday afternoon, the death toll had surpassed 100 in six states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee – and White House aides said hundreds more were missing. Two million people are without electricity, and many others lack water and cell phone service.
Scott calls for a return
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott issued a statement calling on Schumer to bring the chamber back into session after the White House sent an emergency funding request.
“While I know from my experience with previous hurricanes that FEMA and SBA damage assessments take time, today I am calling on Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to immediately reconvene the U.S. Senate after these assessments are completed so that we can pass a clean Supplemental Disaster Funding Act and other disaster relief legislation. disaster relief, such as my Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act, needed to ensure the full recovery of families in all affected communities,” Scott wrote.
The process of crafting a White House request for additional spending includes determining which federal departments and agencies have enough money to cover their share of disaster response efforts and which need additional funds. This can take weeks, especially after large-scale disasters like Helene.
As of Monday, it seemed more likely that Congress would return to work on Capitol Hill on Nov. 12 as scheduled and then consider emergency spending.
Meanwhile, staffers in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, as well as leadership offices, will likely begin negotiating an additional spending package once the Office of Management and Budget actually sends out the request.
Lawmakers would then be able to pass the bill during the lame-duck session in November or December, possibly attached to one or a package of outstanding government funding bills for the year.
Florida Republican Kat Cammack he said on C-SPAN on Monday that he is “extremely confident” that Congress will approve emergency disaster relief funds once members return to Washington
“I’m absolutely sure there will be a refill,” Cammack said. “I’m afraid this will turn into a political football. And honestly, when it comes to disasters and emergencies, there is no place for politics.
Disaster Relief Fund
FEMA can spend as much as it needs on disaster recovery thanks to a rule approved by Congress just days ago and special reservations for emergencies.
Temporary Expenditures Act Congress approved last week, which keeps the federal government operating until December 20, included a provision allowing FEMA to spend money from the Disaster Relief Fund at a faster rate than would otherwise be allowed.
FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund may operate through what is called Immediate Needs Funding, which the agency can operate as a safety net when the account runs out of funds.
I need funding immediately allows FEMA to put it on hold “funding long-term recovery and hazard mitigation projects that FEMA does not have in its system,” according to the Congressional Research Service report.
“These INF restrictions do not affect individual aid or public assistance programs that reimburse the costs of emergency response and protective measures taken by state and local governments,” CRS says.
According to CRS, FEMA has been used on several occasions for urgent needs, including in August 2017 after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, as well as in fiscal years 2003 through 2006 and in fiscal year 2010.
Earlier requests for funding went unheeded
Biden administration sent by Congress an additional spending request was issued in October 2023, which requested additional funding for disaster response and recovery. A deeply divided Congress, with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats with a slim majority in the Senate, did not approve the request.
Office of the Executive and Chief Budget Officer Shalanda Young sent another letter to Congress this June, calling on lawmakers to approve multibillions of dollars in additional disaster funding.
Young wrote that she wants to “reiterate the October request and provide a revised estimate of an additional $4 billion for specific disaster needs, including funds to aid respond to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, last year’s devastating wildfires on Maui years, and tornado survivors in Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and throughout the Midwest.”
“Especially as we enter what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is designating as an ’emergency’ hurricane season, the Administration is calling on Congress to take immediate action on this request, including the inclusion of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). (FEMA) to ensure that we can meet the federal government’s responsibility to rebuild from past disasters and respond to future events,” Young wrote at the time.
The additional spending request that the Biden administration will send to Congress in the coming weeks will likely be a continuation of earlier requests.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Monday that the Biden administration is “disappointed.” Congress has not yet approved the additional spending request.
“We are disappointed that this did not happen,” she said. “We will continue this conversation. As the president has said, we are in constant contact with members of Congress and want to make sure they act quickly on this matter.”
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