House Speaker Mike Johnson over the weekend said it would be “premature” to call Congress back to Washington to allocate more funds for communities recovering from devastating hurricanes, despite calls from President Joe Biden for lawmakers to act “immediately.” 

What You Need To Know

  • House Speaker Mike Johnson over the weekend said it would be “premature” to call Congress back to Washington at the moment to allocate more funds for communities recovering from Hurricanes Milton and Helene
  • In an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Johnson argued that it will take time for affected states to “assess and calculate” their needs after the hurricanes
  • FEMA and the Biden administration have said that the agency has enough funds to respond to the immediate needs of people on the ground following the storms
  • At the same time, Biden warned Congressional leaders in a letter earlier this month that the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program, which he said is “often the largest source of Federal disaster recovery funds” for disaster survivors, was set to run out of funds “well before” lawmakers are set to return to Washington
  • Other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have aligned themselves with Biden’s calls for Congress to return from break to move on disaster aid funding before the election

In an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Johnson argued that it will take time for affected states to “assess and calculate” their needs after Hurricanes Milton and Helene. 

“As soon as that is done, Congress will meet and, in bipartisan fashion, we will address those needs,” Johnson said. “But it would be premature to call everyone back now, because this – these storms are so large in their scope and magnitude, it's going to take a little bit of time to make those calculations.”

The Republican speaker noted that the short-term spending bill that Congress passed to keep the government funded through mid-December before leaving town last month included $20 billion in funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. He made the case that the pot of money means additional funding “can wait” until Congress is scheduled to return after the November election. 

FEMA and the Biden administration have said that the agency has enough funds to respond to the immediate needs of people on the ground following the storms. At the same time, Biden warned Congressional leaders in a letter earlier this month that the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program, which he said is “often the largest source of Federal disaster recovery funds” for disaster survivors, was set to run out of funds “well before” lawmakers are set to return to Washington. The president spent much of last week calling on Johnson and Congress to “step up” in allocating more funds. 

“The SBA is pretty right at the edge right now and I think the Congress should be coming back and moving on the emergency needs immediately,” Biden said last week. “And they’re gonna have to come back after the election as well. This is gonna be a long haul for total rebuilding.”

The $20 billion in the short-term funding bill passed last month – which is already down to $11 billion after Hurricanes Milton and Helene, according to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell – is supposed to last until next September. Biden has made clear Congress will eventually have to set aside more funds for FEMA in general as well. 

Other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have aligned themselves with Biden’s calls for Congress to return from break to move on disaster aid funding before the election, including conservative Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who represents a district in Florida impacted by the storms. 

In a post on social media last week, Luna said additional funding “needs to happen” and urged Johnson to “call us back.” 

Meanwhile, Johnson on Sunday also argued that FEMA has only distributed about 2% of the $20 billion it was allocated last month and accused the agency of being “slow to respond” the storms.

FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.