Biden Calls on Congress to Return and Provide More Hurricane Aid

GOP SPEAKER SAY'S 'NO'

Yuval Rosenberg
Thu, October 10, 2024



After Hurricane Milton swept across Florida overnight, leaving a trail of destruction and millions of people without power, President Biden on Thursday called on Congress to come back to Washington, D.C., to pass additional emergency relief.

“I think the Congress should be coming back and moving on emergency needs immediately,” Biden said at the White House. “They're going to have to come back after the election as well because this is going to be a long haul for total rebuilding. It's going to take several billion dollars. It's not going to be a matter of just a little bit.”

Biden said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has what it needs for the time being, but that the Small Business Administration, which also provides aid to some victims of natural disasters, is “right at the edge right now.”

At a press briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned that more emergency funding would be needed. “We will need additional funds, and we implore Congress when it returns to, in fact, fund FEMA as is needed,” Mayorkas said.

Biden said he has not yet spoken to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, about upcoming funding needs. In a letter he sent to congressional leaders six days ago, Biden warned that the SBA need was most urgent since the agency’s disaster loan program “will run out of funding in a matter of weeks and well before the Congress is planning to reconvene.”

In Thursday’s update on hurricane response, the president again lashed out at those who have been spreading misinformation and lies about the federal relief efforts. “Those who engage in such lies are undermining confidence in the rescue and recovery work,” Biden said. “These lies are also harmful to those who most need help. Lives are on the line. People are in desperate situations. Have the decency to tell them the truth.”

Asked if he had spoken with Trump, Biden seemed to get his hackles up. “Are you kidding me?” he said. “Former President Trump — get a life, man, and help these people.”

Asked if he plans to speak with Trump, Biden responded with a blunt, “No.”

The bottom line: Congress recently provided FEMA with just over $20 billion in funding, and the agency has already spent $9 billion of that, meaning that Congress may quickly be called upon to appropriate more money for disaster relief in addition to the funding for the Small Business Administration.