Florida’s two Republican senators are calling on President Joe Biden to replenish the government’s disaster relief fund with no strings attached as Hurricane Idalia hammers the Gulf Coast.
The White House has asked Congress to consider further Ukraine aid alongside a request for $12 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has just $3.4 billion left to deal with natural disasters.
DESANTIS SHOWCASES ABILITY TO GOVERN WITH HURRICANE RESPONSE
That money will soon be depleted as hurricane season and a devastating wildfire in Hawaii force the agency to prioritize meeting “immediate needs” over long-term recovery efforts.
Biden approved an emergency declaration at the urging of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on Monday, but members of the state’s congressional delegation say the president is holding further disaster relief hostage to extract more aid for Ukraine, a topic that has become controversial on Capitol Hill.
“No matter how anybody feels about Ukraine funding, those two things should never be one for the other,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told Fox News on Wednesday. “When it comes to taking care of Americans in harm, that should be the priority.”
The debate over Ukraine funding, opposed by members of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) right flank in the House, has become tied to efforts to keep the government funded past Sept. 30.
Lawmakers will need to pass a short-term spending measure to allow them more time to negotiate, and leadership in both parties see the stopgap bill as a vehicle for the $40 billion supplemental Biden has requested, of which $24 billion would be for Ukraine aid.
That means funds may not be replenished until Oct. 1 or later as Washington, facing gridlock over spending levels, veers toward a government shutdown.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), a fiscal conservative who has coordinated with the House Freedom Caucus on a list of demands to pass a continuing resolution, called for a vote on disaster relief funding separate from the budget fight once the Senate returns from recess next week.
“We’ve had enough with Washington playing politics and demand that Congress does what’s right for American families, starting with ensuring our federal government has all the resources it needs to show up after disasters, now and in the future,” Scott said in a Tuesday statement.
He and Rubio introduced a bill in June to provide $12.5 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund, but Scott is rolling out “enhanced” legislation that would also aid Florida’s orange growers and provide tax relief for disaster victims. Rubio expects him to offer a unanimous consent request from the Senate floor next week to force the matter.
The White House, so far, is not entertaining the idea of decoupling the disaster relief money from Ukraine aid, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre telling CNN on Tuesday that both are imperative.
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals of what it looks like if Congress comes back and wants to split the two. These are incredibly important, not just for the president, for the American people, right?” she said. “We have to keep our commitments on both sides of these things.”
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The United States has committed more than $100 billion to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, leading to scrutiny over how the money has been spent.
The war effort still has overwhelming support on Capitol Hill, but with a slim Republican majority in the House, McCarthy has taken a harder line against further aid and sees the emergency supplemental as a way around the budget caps he and Biden agreed to earlier this year.
