Urgent Plea from the White House for Disaster Relief Funding
TThe Biden administration is pressing Congress to swiftly approve a sizable $100 billion disaster relief funding package. This funding aims to replenish critical resources and aid communities affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton, along with various other extreme weather events.
This funding request was part of a bipartisan agreement that ultimately unraveled on Wednesday, primarily due to a series of impactful social media posts from Elon Musk criticizing the deal, alongside President-elect Donald Trump’s insistence on revisiting the contentious national debt ceiling. The collapse of these negotiations is a notable setback for Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who has been striving to build a compromise to prevent a government shutdown just before the Christmas season, only to have his efforts undermined by both Trump and Musk.
With the deadline fast approaching, lawmakers are racing against the clock to establish a new agreement before Friday at midnight, when the federal government is set to halt all non-essential operations.
A government shutdown would mean furloughing hundreds of thousands of federal employees, who would not receive paychecks until Congress reaches a new funding arrangement. This could lead to the closure of national parks and delays in vital food and environmental inspections. While Social Security payments would continue, many related services, like benefit verification and new application processing, would be significantly reduced.
In their attempts to dismantle the larger funding package, Musk and Trump have unintentionally put the disaster relief funds—one of the few elements of the spending bill that has bipartisan support—at risk. Republican senators from states heavily affected by September and October hurricanes, such as Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have strongly endorsed the passage of these funds. In response to Trump and Musk’s actions, Sen. Tedd Budd of North Carolina expressed on X that there would be “no” temporary funding bill “without disaster relief for Western North Carolina.”
The White House has ramped up its criticism of Republicans, accusing them of obstructing vital disaster relief and other essential expenditures. “Republicans need to stop their political maneuvering with this bipartisan agreement or risk harming hardworking Americans and destabilizing the nation,” stated White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday night. “President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance are urging Republicans to shut down the government, which threatens to undermine support for disaster recovery, farmers, ranchers, and community health services.”
The last federal government shutdown took place during Trump’s first term, lasting five weeks and becoming the longest in U.S. history. According to the Congressional Budget Office, that shutdown, which ended in January 2019, resulted in approximately $3 billion in economic losses.
During the 2013 government shutdown, the approval ratings for the Republican Party plummeted, taking an entire year to recover, as noted by Republican strategist and pollster Whit Ayres. “Historically, Republicans have faced the brunt of the backlash from government shutdowns,” Ayres stated. “It’s essential for them to find a way to keep the government running, as both they and the incoming administration could face significant consequences if they fail.”
For several months, Shalanda Young, the director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, has been advocating for Congress to approve a standalone disaster relief package. In a memo sent to lawmakers in November, Young highlighted that comprehensive disaster funding had not been authorized in two years. Additional resources are urgently needed to assist communities in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina that were ravaged by Hurricane Helene, the deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Florida was then struck by another severe storm, Hurricane Milton, in October. Other affected states include Alaska, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Mexico, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, all of which require funding for recovery efforts.
Of the proposed $100 billion in disaster funding, around $29 billion is intended to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s main disaster relief fund, which supports immediate recovery efforts like debris removal, repairs to roads and power lines, and financial assistance for those displaced by natural disasters. Additionally, about $21 billion is set aside for farmers facing crop and livestock losses due to storms. The remaining funds are earmarked for infrastructure repairs, housing grants to facilitate community recovery, and low-interest loans for small businesses struggling to rebuild. If Congress does not act promptly, the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program risks running out of funds, which could adversely affect the job market in areas hit hard by recent storms.
After attempts to pass a separate disaster relief bill failed, lawmakers decided to include the disaster funding into the compromised bill that ultimately fell apart, which would have maintained government spending at current levels for federal agencies until March, when Trump will take office with Republicans holding narrow majorities in both the House and Senate.
