One day after Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida, President Joe Biden said he will travel to the state on Saturday and urged Congress to approve additional funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency as concerns over its disaster relief cash pot intensify.
The president made the announcement on a previously unscheduled trip to FEMA headquarters in Washington Thursday afternoon, where he thanked agency officials for their work amid recent disasters across the country.
“This last couple of years with climate change really kicking in, you guys are going 24 hours a day,” Biden said. “I mean this sincerely, I admire – I admire what you do.”
“I'm here to make clear that our nation has your back.”
Just hours before the president’s stop, he approved Florida’s disaster declaration – opening up federal funding for those in Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee and Taylor counties. The move allows people in such designated areas to access grants for temporary housing and home repairs while the state can receive funding assistance for debris removal and hazard mitigation.
The White House in a press release noted more counties could be added to the list as damage assessments continue. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is on the ground in Florida helping with such assessment efforts – with the agency head joining Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for a press conference Thursday morning.
“I'm here today to be able to join the governor and go assess first hand so I can see what the level of impact is to these communities,” she said in an interview on MSNBC on Thursday. “And then we can determine whether or not additional federal assistance will be needed to help support these communities on the road to recovery.”
But faced with “an unprecedented number of disaster requests from governors,” according to Criswell, and with hurricane season not over yet, it comes amid a precarious funding situation for the federal government’s lead emergency response agency.
Criswell said FEMA’s disaster relief fund has a current balance of $3.4 billion and is approaching depletion – leading the agency to move to “Immediate Needs Funding.” She previously said on Aug. 20 that FEMA estimated the fund would run dry in mid-September.
Criswell made clear the new immediate needs funding structure means the agency is prioritizing using available money for Hurricane Idalia, the Maui wildfire that has left at least 115 people dead and “any other extreme weather events that may come our way” – putting off recovery and rebuilding projects from past disasters.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration asked Congress to approve about $12 billion to replenish FEMA’s disaster relief fund in a $40 billion request that also included funding for the Southern border and Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.
Amid already intense debates over whether Congress can work out an agreement to keep the government funded past the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30, the disaster cash tied to Ukraine funding could be a sticking point.
“We need this disaster relief request met. We need to do it in September – we can't wait,” Biden said on Thursday, claiming that some in the Senate believe the funding is “somehow, I don't know, not needed or,” Biden said before clarifying, “I'm not even sure what their thinking is.”
Some in the GOP, which controls the House, have pushed back on additional financial aid for the war-torn country, arguing the U.S. should be using the cash for domestic issues.
Although it ultimately didn’t pass, in July, 70 House Republicans voted in favor of an amendment to end security assistance to the country.
“I don’t think the two issues should ever be linked. Ukraine is a foreign policy decision, we need to prioritize to what level is that in our national interest,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on Fox News on Wednesday.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., this week said he will introduce a separate bill unrelated to Ukraine to “make sure that the immediate needs for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund are fully funded” when the Senate returns in September.
“President Biden and politicians in Washington have been playing games with FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and insisting that this critical domestic aid be tied to foreign aid for Ukraine,” he said in a statement.
Rubio predicted some Democrats may not support the package without Biden’s requested Ukraine funding.
Asked if there was a chance he would consider splitting up the FEMA disaster relief funding request from the Ukraine request last week, Biden’s answer was simple: “none,” he told reporters.
While delivering remarks on the federal response to the hurricane and Maui fires on Wednesday, the president was asked if he could assure Americans that the government will have the necessary emergency funding going forward, especially as hurricane season treks on.
“If I can't do that, I'm going to point out why,” Biden said. “How can we not respond? My God. How can we not respond to these needs? And so I'm confident even though there's a lot of talk from some of our friends up on the Hill about the cost, we got to do it.”
“Congress needs to do its job and they need to fund the one agency that helps people in their time of need when we face disasters in this country and that’s FEMA,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., who was previously Florida’s Director of Emergency Management said in an interview on CNN on Wednesday night.
He added he “supports the Biden package” but also would back a move to replenish the FEMA fund individually “if necessary.”
“We’re on a six week break right now, we’re coming back for three weeks in September, we’re only going to work two weeks in October, we’re only going to work two weeks in November – Congress hasn’t passed a lot of pieces of legislation this year,” he said. “You’ve got the [House] Freedom Caucus holding up bills going to the floor by voting against the rule so yeah I’m worried about that dysfunction.”
At the same time, he noted disaster relief is often bipartisan, pointing to Biden and DeSantis working together on Hurricane Idalia.