WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is urging Congress to allocate $100 billion in disaster relief to assist communities across the Southeast affected by the recent hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“With the Congress now back in session, I write to request urgently needed emergency funding to provide for an expeditious and meaningful Federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters,” President Joe Biden said in a letter to Congress addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Nov. 18.
The administration on Nov. 18 submitted a funding request that included $40 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), $24 billion for the Department of Agriculture, and $12 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“The last time Congress passed a comprehensive disaster package was in December of 2022 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023,” Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters during a call.
“Since then, numerous deadly storms and disasters have struck communities across the country. Those, of course, include hurricanes Milton and Helene.”
Biden is seeking funding for a total of 16 agencies, with additional allocations such as $8 billion for the Department of Transportation, $4 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, $3 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, and $2 billion for the Small Business Administration (SBA).
The request came after Johnson signaled that the House might delay appropriations bills until early 2025, when Republicans are set to control both Congress and the White House.
“We’re running out of clock; December 20 is the deadline,” Johnson told Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” on Nov. 17. “We’re still hopeful we might be able to get that done, but if not, we will have a temporary measure. I think it would go into the first part of next year and allow us the necessary time to get this done.”
Young said the administration has already allocated funds for a range of other disasters, including the fires in Maui, tornadoes across the Midwest, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, and severe storms in Alaska, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Mexico, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and other states.
“That is why we need comprehensive disaster relief in order to ensure that our communities can fully recover and rebuild,” she said.
The funding request also includes critical support for the SBA’s disaster loan program for small businesses, which has completely exhausted its funding, according to Young.
“Homeowners also use this funding as a critical source of rebuilding,” she said.
During the call, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell also emphasized the importance of the urgent funding, noting that “2024 has been a year of records.”
“For example, in 2023, we had 114 disaster declarations, and as of today, in 2024, we’ve had 172,” she said.
When asked about a lawsuit against FEMA in Florida brought because emergency workers allegedly skipped houses with Trump signs in front, a senior administration official stated during a call on Nov. 18: “We’re not able at this time to comment on an open and active investigation. I can tell you that FEMA’s mission is to help people before, during, and after disasters.
“And our core values are fairness, respect, integrity, and compassion. And that is the ethos of the organization.”
