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Biden asks for nearly $100 billion for hurricane and disaster response

President Joe Biden delivers an update on Hurricane Milton from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Oct. 10. The White House asked Congress on Monday for $100 billion in emergency funding to respond to Milton and other disasters. (MUST CREDIT: Tom Brenner for The Washington Post) (Tom Brenner/For the Washington Post)
By Jacob Bogage and Mariana Alfaro Washington Post

President Joe Biden asked Congress for $100 billion on Monday to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies, likely the president’s final domestic spending request as he prepares to leave the White House with some crucial priorities unfinished.

Biden is seeking $40 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund, the nation’s primary short-term recovery vehicle; $24 billion to assist farmers who lost crops and livestock in recent hurricanes and top-off antipoverty food aid programs; and $12 billion for housing assistance.

The request, submitted in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), builds on Biden’s previous funding requests, which the GOP-controlled House has declined to consider.

Shortly after hurricanes Helene and Milton, Johnson said Congress would approve disaster-response funding upon lawmakers’ return to Washington after November’s elections. On Monday, he said he would “go to work evaluating” Biden’s request.

“We’re going to make sure we deliver for the hurricane victims and the people that have suffered from that,” Johnson said. “I come from a hurricane state. I know how important that is, but there’s a deliberate process that we go through, and we’ll start that in earnest.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee is set to hold a hearing on disaster relief funding on Wednesday. Congress faces a Dec. 20 deadline to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year to avert a shutdown before Trump’s inauguration. Lawmakers could try to add disaster relief money to whatever they pass to keep the government funded.

“This relief is important. Families, small businesses, neighborhoods and communities are counting on their government to be there for them when they need help the most,” White House budget director Shalanda Young told reporters. “As someone who grew up with a hurricane tracker she got as a kid from a local TV station, and as someone who’s helped tear down wet drywall, knowing your government has your back when you’re going through some of the most difficult times in your life is a welcome comfort.”

The last time Congress passed a comprehensive disaster package was in December 2022. Since then, nearly every corner of the country has experienced an event for which federal disaster funds would cover a portion of recovery costs, Biden administration officials said, and other areas are still waiting for overdue funding.

The White House’s request incorporates funds they’ve already asked for to cover Maui - which was devastated by fires in 2023 - and Baltimore, where the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March. Biden pledged that the federal government would cover the full cost to rebuild the bridge. The administration on Monday requested $8 billion for the Transportation Department, building off a $3.1 billion estimate from June.

“We’re talking about disaster relief in communities from Vermont to Hawaii, North Carolina and Texas in between that have been hammered as a result of these massive weather events,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont), whose home state is still recovering from historic floods in 2023 and 2024, said in an interview. “As much as it is, in fact, a big number, it reflects how these huge weather events are causing catastrophic harm to our communities.”

Biden last asked Congress to urgently address a funding shortfall at the Small Business Administration, which assists renters, homeowners and businesses with low- or no-interest loans. The agency exhausted its lending authority after hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“Congress has never in my memory delayed so long in providing bipartisan disaster relief. Congress must deliver the resources the American people need to recover and rebuild as soon as possible,” Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Washington) said in a statement. “We cannot afford to delay further in getting disaster relief across the line so that communities can rebuild schools, roads, and utilities, families can get back on their feet and our small businesses and farmers can stay afloat.”