The Trump administration is preparing to ask Congress to pass a $29 billion disaster aid plan that includes $16 billion for flood insurance claims and $13 billion in new recovery funds for hurricane victims.
The Trump administration is preparing to ask Congress to pass a $29 billion disaster aid plan that includes $16 billion for flood insurance claims and $13 billion in new recovery funds for hurricane victims, according to The Associated Press.
The White House could reveal the plan to lawmakers as early as Wednesday, the AP reported.
The funding boost for the government-guaranteed flood insurance program comes as the program is maxing out on a $30 billion line of credit from the Treasury Department. The $16 billion boost in funding would allow the program to repay more than half of that debt.
Politico previously reported on Monday that the administration was considering $10 to 15 billion for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) operations after several states, Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands were all devastated by hurricanes last month.
In a visit to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico on Tuesday, Trump told officials and members of the press that the storms had thrown the administration’s budget “out of whack.”
“I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack because we spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico, and that’s fine,” Trump said Tuesday. “We saved a lot of lives.”
The White House previously asked for more than $14 billion after Hurricane Harvey devastated parts of Texas and Louisiana. Trump himself donated $1 million of his own money to charities helping with the recovery efforts.
