Rep. Maxwell Frost, Democrat of Florida, said Sunday that Congress should return “as soon as possible” to replenish disaster relief funds and not wait until Nov. 12, when Congress is scheduled to reconvene .
“Why wait until November 12? We don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of natural disasters or storms,” Frost said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “I think it’s important that an agency like FEMA has not only what it needs, but even more than it needs to make sure it has the resources necessary, of course, to help to the current operation.”
At the end of September, Congress passes short-term spending bill which authorized FEMA to use the agency’s resources early for fiscal year 2025, drawing $20 billion from its disaster relief fund. However, the interim spending bill did not include billions of additional dollars that the White House Office of Management and Budget had requested for already existing recovery efforts.
Hurricane Helene made landfall on September 26 in the Big Bend region of Florida, before causing devastating flooding in Tennessee and North Carolina. Less than two weeks later, powerful Hurricane Milton hit in Siesta Key, Florida.
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FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Wednesday that the agency is currently able to “meet all the needs of everyone affected by Helen and Milton” but expects to need additional funds in the future.
President Biden on Thursday called lawmakers to “move as quickly as possible” on emergency funding, particularly for disaster money from the Small Business Administration, which is currently running precariously low. However, the president said he did not speak with House Speaker Mike Johnson or ask him to convene Congress early. Mr Biden on Sunday announcement $600 million in aid for areas affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene as he visited damaged St. Petersburg, Florida.
So far, congressional leaders have not called on lawmakers to return to Washington before Nov. 12 to address additional disaster funding.
A group of bipartisan senators signed a letter urging Senate leaders to bring lawmakers back into session, saying “this may even require Congress to return in October to ensure we have enough time to pass legislation before the end of this calendar year.” House lawmakers also sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson requesting that the House reconvene to allocate additional disaster aid.
Johnson said Sunday on “Face the Nation” that FEMA has the funding to last until Congress returns to Washington in November.
“That can wait… because remember Congress allocated an additional $20 billion to FEMA so that it has the resources to meet immediate needs,” Johnson said. “It would be premature to call everyone back now, because these storms are so vast in their scale and scope that it will take some time to make those calculations.”
Frost argued Sunday that Congress should proactively provide more disaster funding and not wait until more damage is caused by this year’s disastrous hurricane season.
“What we need to understand is that yes, FEMA has the resources to deal with the current situation, but as was mentioned in the previous segment, NOAA predicts, and we have seen, that This is one of the worst hurricane seasons we’ve seen. “We’re not done with this hurricane season, it doesn’t really end until the end of November. we can ensure that FEMA has the resources it needs?”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also joined “Face the Nation” on Sundaypressuring Congress to respond accordingly to the unprecedented hurricane season.
“We need Congress to act quickly to fund FEMA and especially its Disaster Relief Fund, because the hurricane season is not over and the seasons are less and less important now, given the effects climate change and the increasing severity and frequency of extreme weather events.
