Speaker Johnson Says FEMA Still Has Not Used Majority of Disaster Relief Funding

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) walks to a meeting at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 11, 2024. Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) again rebuffed claims on Oct. 13 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) needed more funding to support victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Johnson said in a social media post on Sunday that FEMA had distributed only 2 percent of the more than $20 billion in disaster relief funding Congress had already provided the agency.

“They need to do their job and get this assistance to the people in need,” Johnson wrote in his post on X. “Once the total calculations are completed, Congress will address any additional needs.”

After making landfall in late September, Helene caused widespread damage across the South, particularly in western North Carolina. Milton slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane on Oct. 9, and officials are still surveying the extent of the damage.

Johnson’s comments differ from those of President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who have suggested in recent weeks that the agency needs more money.

Mayorkas said in a White House press briefing on Oct. 10 that FEMA did have enough money to assist with the “immediate” needs of individuals impacted by the two hurricanes and associated tornadoes.

“That being said, we will need additional funds, and we implore Congress, when it returns, to, in fact, fund FEMA as is needed,” Mayorkas, attending virtually from North Carolina, said in response to a question from a reporter.

Biden, speaking to reporters on Oct. 11, again said there is a need for congressional action to support disaster relief efforts but noted he had not yet spoken directly with Johnson.

“No, I haven’t [spoken to Speaker Johnson]—but we’re going to—I’ve spoken to Republicans who want to speak to Speaker Johnson. And I think Speaker Johnson is going to get the message that he’s got to step up, particularly for small businesses,” Biden said.

Prior to Hurricane Milton but after Hurricane Helene, Biden said he would not rule out calling Congress back to Washington from recess to pass supplemental disaster relief funding.

At that time, Johnson said Congress had already provided FEMA with the funds it needed to respond to disasters with the three-month stopgap spending bill that Biden signed into law in late September.

A bipartisan call for Congress to return occurred in the aftermath of Helene. Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) proposed a $10 billion funding boost to FEMA earlier this month to respond to the disasters.

Despite those appeals, Johnson has maintained that Congress had already provided sufficient funding. In an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, he said it would be premature to reconvene Congress.

“It can wait because remember the day before Hurricane Helene hit ... Congress appropriated $20 billion additional dollars to FEMA so that they would have the necessary resources to address immediate needs,” Johnson said. “I just checked ... as of this morning, less than 2 percent of that funding has actually been distributed.”

Johnson said that FEMA needs to expedite the distribution of existing funds.

“We need FEMA to do its job ... those funds, that money is provided so that storm victims can have the immediate necessities met,” he added.

FEMA also addressed the concerns about its funding on its website, stating it has “enough money right now for immediate response and recovery needs” and encouraged those affected by Hurricane Helene to apply for assistance.