Congress approved $20 billion for FEMA's disaster relief fund as Hurricane Helene was heading toward Florida.

As Hurricane Helene careened toward Florida’s Panhandle, numerous Republicans voted against extending funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Last week, Congress approved $20 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund as part of a stopgap spending bill to fund the government through December 20. But the measure left out billions of dollars in requested supplemental disaster funding.

The Senate approved the measure by a 78-18 vote on September 25 after it passed the House in a 341-82 vote. Republicans supplied the no votes in both chambers.

Some of the Republicans who voted against the bill represent states that have been hard hit by Helene, including Florida Representative Matt Gaetz.

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  • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    wait until you figure out that literally every funding bill for everything has earmarked funding in basically every category.

    It’s also not uncommon to push through a large monolithic funding bill since it’s simply easier than managing like 12 different pieces of legislation instead.