Biden floats recess action on Helene supplemental

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said he expects to request an emergency spending package to finance the recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene that ravaged the Southeast, and that Congress might need to cut short its October recess to pass it quickly.

“That is something I may have to request,” Biden told reporters Monday, though he said no decisions had been made about the size of a funding package or whether it would require interrupting the election-season recess.

That decision would be up to lawmakers, who were in wait-and-see mode Monday for more information on the extent of damages. But it would almost certainly require a massive need for additional funds to bring lawmakers, who aren’t due to return to Washington until Nov. 12, back from the campaign trail before Election Day.

Before leaving town last week, Congress passed a stopgap funding measure that includes a provision allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to tap into about $20 billion in disaster relief funds beginning Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year.

But roughly $6 billion of that money had been expected to be used to address a host of pent-up demands for disaster recovery efforts, from flooding in Vermont to wildfires in Hawaii.

FEMA was forced to put longer-term projects on hold in early August when it triggered “immediate needs funding” status, diverting all available funds only to the highest-priority “lifesaving and life-sustaining” activities. The agency could decide to extend that status even after receiving its $20 billion infusion on Tuesday, which would mean further delays in addressing longstanding disaster relief needs.

Some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle from states Helene tore through, including Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., on Monday called for Congress to return early to take up a supplemental aid package.

But aides said that was unlikely at this point, barring new information that becomes available during the damage review process. And White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday there was currently no timeline for a supplemental request to Congress.

Meanwhile, Liz Sherwood-Randall, the White House’s homeland security adviser, told reporters the death toll from Helene could reach 600, due to the number of people currently missing after the hurricane.

‘Top priority’

Even before Helene struck late last week — killing more than 100, leaving millions without power, and flooding communities across several states — lawmakers already dealing with natural disasters had warned it was a mistake to leave town for a month without providing additional aid.

“When we return in November, passing disaster aid has to be the top priority of the United States Congress,” said Senate Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, who pushed for Maui wildfire relief, among other needs across the country. “This is an American priority, and we cannot close up shop for this Congress leaving all these Americans behind.”

An initial six-month stopgap measure offered by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had included $10 billion in extra FEMA aid, but that provision was stripped out when Congress agreed to a more bare-bones measure that extended funding for 12 weeks.

That omission risks another depletion of FEMA’s disaster fund before the new stopgap extension lapses Dec. 20, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said in a statement when the CR cleared last Wednesday. “Spending down next year’s funds early, especially as we deal with more catastrophic weather, threatens to create a perfect storm by our next funding deadline,” Welch said.

Last October, Biden requested $23.5 billion in disaster aid funds, including $9 billion for FEMA. That request sat untouched as Congress focused on aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other matters considered more pressing at the time.

In June, Biden requested nearly $4 billion more, mostly to rebuild Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge, though the package also included $700 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to finance long-term rebuilding needs from previous disasters.

Political pressure for swift action could mount because of the scale of Helene’s devastation and the number of lawmakers affected by the tragedy.

“Hurricane Helene hit our beautiful mountains with a ferocity unmatched by any storm in our district’s history,” Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., an appropriator, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, as he recounted all the recovery efforts underway in his district.

In an update posted on his website, Edwards used the word “gone” four times to describe the condition of Transylvania County roads. For example: “70 percent of U.S. 276 is gone near Connestee Falls.”

Biden’s October request included $634 million for emergency highway relief funds, a figure that seems likely to grow.

W. Craig Fugate, who ran FEMA during the Obama administration, told CNBC on Monday that housing losses from Helene will be “staggering” and require more money for HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program. Biden’s request last fall included $2.8 billion in CDBG funding, before numerous additional disasters including Helene.

Biden said he intends to travel to hurricane-ravaged areas “later this week,” but said he would not do so until he was assured his massive security footprint would not interfere with recovery efforts. He said he told North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper he would like to visit the hard-hit western part of the state.

Biden also repeated his pledge to “surge” equipment, supplies, personnel and other needed resources into the states hit hard by the storm. “We will be there as long as it takes to finish this job,” he said. “Your nation has your back.”

North Carolina and its 16 electoral votes could be critical in deciding the 2024 presidential race. The latest polling average from analyst Nate Silver gives former President Donald Trump a slim 0.2 percent lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, closest of any of the states in play.

It’s not just North Carolina that’s been hit hard; Biden has also declared emergencies in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and Tennessee, freeing up FEMA funds.

Katrina comparisons

It’s not yet clear how much money will be required for Helene response and recovery efforts. But the scope of the disaster is already prompting comparisons to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.

Congress rushed back into session early, before Labor Day, to ram through a $10.5 billion supplemental, though it cleared on a voice vote in the Senate and by unanimous consent in the House so members mostly didn’t need to be present.

Lawmakers quickly discovered that wasn’t even close to enough, and tacked on another $51.8 billion six days later after Congress reconvened and members were back in Washington.

FEMA received all but $2.3 billion of the combined funds.

During debate on the second emergency supplemental, lawmakers said FEMA was burning through $2 billion a day on the Katrina response effort. That means if Helene requires even half of that total, FEMA could be out of money before Election Day.

Aidan Quigley, Paul M. Krawzak and John T. Bennett contributed to this report.

______