on Sunday said passing additional hurricane aid for states impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton “can wait” until Congress is back in session after the election.
CBS “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan asked him why he thinks it’s fine to wait until November for Congress to pass more aid for Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton victims.
House lawmakers have also urged Johnson to bring the chamber back into session.
But it notably excluded any additional FEMA funding.
“As soon as that is done, Congress will meet and in a bipartisan fashion, we will address those needs, will provide the additional resources, but it would be premature to call everyone back now,” Johnson said.
Mike Johnson, the Republican from Louisiana. stated on Sunday that approving more hurricane aid for the states hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton “can wait” until after the election, when Congress reconvenes.
Margaret Brennan, host of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” questioned him about why he believed it was acceptable to wait until November for Congress to approve additional funding for Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton victims.
It can wait, Johnson said, because Congress gave FEMA an additional $20 billion the day before Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida before moving up through the states and ending up in Senator Tillis’s home state of North Carolina. This allowed FEMA to have the resources needed to handle emergency situations.
Mr. Thom Tillis (RN-N). B. was one of the senators from both parties who signed a letter asking Senate leaders to consider calling Congress back into session this month in order to pass disaster legislation before the end of the year.
Johnson has also been pushed by House lawmakers to reconvene the chamber. In a letter sent last week, a group of Democrats requested that he comply, and Rep. Paulina Luna Anna (R-Fla. “If Congress holds a special session, we can pass it right away,” the user wrote on the social media site X. This is a necessary step. Call us back, @SpeakerJohnson. “.
In order to prevent a government shutdown last month, Congress passed a continuing resolution that gave the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) access to a roughly $20 billion pot beginning in October and permitted the agency to use the fund’s fiscal 2025 resources for disaster response more quickly. 1. However, it noticeably omitted any further funding from FEMA.
Approximately two percent of the funding that has already been approved has been disbursed, according to Johnson, as of Sunday. He asserted that FEMA must “do its job” and distribute the funding to the impacted areas.
Although FEMA representatives stated that they have enough money to handle the two hurricanes until Congress returns, they also mentioned that almost half of that money has already been used.
Prior to asking Congress for additional funding, the Speaker stated that the impacted states—Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina—need to evaluate the storm’s damage and determine their needs.
It would be premature to call everyone back at this time, Johnson said. “As soon as that is done, Congress will meet and in a bipartisan fashion, we will address those needs, will provide the additional resources.”.
