Welcome to the politics of disaster relief,
Republicans are criticizing the Biden/Harris administration for how it responded to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, Tennessee and other parts of the South. Now it’s going to be a double whammy as Hurricane Milton is hitting Florida.
This has come to light amid a tough presidential election. That’s why disaster response is now linked to politics in swing states North Carolina And Georgia. Florida also has a competitive but not top-tier Senate race.
Storms can disrupt general voting. Ordinary people who vote may not be able to participate in the voting. It’s hard to care about voting if you’re short on food, short on electricity, and can’t even get past the noise from Helen destroying roads in western North Carolina.
‘Urgent rebuild’: Scott urges Schumer to recall Senate amid Helen devastation
Pray tell, if your basement is filled by Milton – when Helen got wet a few weeks ago, where should you vote, Tampa or Sarasota? You were going to vote at the school down the street. But now it lacks power. You are now staying at your sister’s house inland. But you are not registered to vote there…
You see what we are achieving.
Republicans are attacking the Biden/Harris administration for its response to the storm.
“It’s like the DMV on an industrial scale,” said the Republican vice presidential candidate and senator. JD VanceR-Ohio, on Fox. “This is incompetence of the highest order.”
“At the federal level, this has been a colossal failure,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “When you talk to those who are directly affected, they will tell you that this is an abject failure. FEMA has lost its core mission. The administration has not shown that they are capable of responding to this terrible disaster.” Were ready for.”
With Hurricane Helen’s path of destruction across the South and Hurricane Milton headed its way, the politics of disaster relief are once again becoming apparent. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
“Kamala Harris has left them stranded. This is the worst response to a hurricane or disaster or hurricane that we’ve ever seen. Maybe worse than Katrina. And that’s hard to beat, isn’t it?” asked former President Trump.
Hurricane responses are challenging. Hurricane Andrew was a powerful Category 5 hurricane through florida In August 1992. Former President George H.W. Bush’s slow response to Andrew diminished his support in Florida. “Bush 41” won Florida by a narrow margin, defeating former President Clinton by less than 2% of the vote. Four years ago, Bush won Florida by 22 points. Additionally, the response to Hurricane Andrew raised questions about the administration’s competence just weeks before the election. It is believed that this caused Bush to lose a few points nationwide.
When Clinton took office, he immediately strengthened FEMA to prepare for and respond to other natural disasters.
Biden gets defensive when pressed on who led Hurricane Helen response
So, part of this strategy is a natural extension of Republicans seeking to undermine the Biden/Harris administration at almost every turn. It’s another component of the GOP narrative that the administration can’t handle the economy. Can’t handle foreign policy. Can’t handle the limits.
Did someone say limit?
Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Fox Business. Said, “We give FEMA $20 billion a year. And unfortunately, they’ve squandered it all.” “We spent $200 billion in Ukraine. We spent $220-500 a month on our illegal aliens.”
“We give FEMA $20 billion a year. And unfortunately, they’ve squandered everything,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., as he blasted the Biden administration for allegedly giving priority to illegal immigrants on hurricane relief efforts. Criticized. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This is where things get tricky.
FEMA is under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security. DHS runs a program that sends money to besieged cities illegal migrant crisisSome of the money is spent on food and shelter for people living in the country illegally. But it also helps those towns cope by addressing the pressures on their medical systems and other services.
Funding for disaster recovery and migrant assistance constitutes two separate line items in the DHS budget. Congress approved funding for both of these programs. In fact, some Republicans would prefer spending more to help their communities deal with illegal immigration.
About $640 million is currently spent to assist these cities overwhelmed by the influx of illegal immigrants. But some lawmakers would like it to increase to $3 billion next year.
Representative Nancy Mace, R-S.C. Introduced legislation to halt migrant assistance program. And Johnson blurred the line between FEMA disaster aid and migrants and the border.
“FEMA should be included and the Federal Emergency Management Association. Their mission is to help people in times of natural disaster. Not be included in using any pool of funds from any account to resettle illegal aliens who came across the border Should be.” Johnson said on Fox.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the response to Hurricane Helene a “colossal failure” at the federal level. (Getty Images)
Other Republicans believe this could be an opportunity to realign spending overall. Keep in mind that many Republicans are skeptical of foreign aid. to ukraine,
“As elected officials, it’s our responsibility to put Americans first. Whether you’re in Florida, in my district or wherever you are in the union, I think it’s important for us to put Americans first and restore hope.” And it’s important to tell them.” They have not been forgotten,” Rep. Corey Mills, R-Fla., said on Fox.
But some Republicans compared FEMA’s response to the issues with how the administration addresses other topics.
“This administration seems to have no problem finding money when they want to spend it on their priorities. When they need hundreds of billions of dollars to pay off student loans for graduate students and gender studies programs , so they somehow find it. When it’s trying to get helicopters to deliver food and water and cellular service and life-saving medicine into these mountain valleys, they somehow can’t find the money,” Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., made the announcement on NBC.
FEMA Administrator Dean Criswell rebuked Republicans for suggesting FEMA should focus on other issues instead of hurricanes.
Criswell said on ABC, “This is obviously ridiculous and absolutely false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people.”
The wake of Hurricanes Helen and Milton is likely to leave both meteorological and electoral scars. (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Before leaving Washington, Congress greenlighted $20 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) as part of an interim spending plan to avoid a government shutdown. But Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas complicated the matter when he said FEMA had enough funding to respond to Helen’s “immediate needs” but not enough for the “season.”
The “season” that Mayorkas refers to is the annual hurricane “season”. It extends till 30 November. Note that Mayorkas made this comment when there was a possibility of another hurricane, but Milton had not yet made it into the Gulf of Mexico.
Some Republicans pounced on Mayorkas. But after considering the severity of Helen, it will probably reduce the DRF to “urgent needs”. The key phrase here is “urgent needs”. Milton would probably do the same. That’s why Congress will have to tackle disaster relief in at least two phases when it returns to session in November. MPs will have to fill the DRF again. And the price tags for Helen and Milton will start coming up. Hurricane Beryl in Texas, Tornado in Iowa, Hurricane in Guam and wildfire in hawaii,
Despite Mayorkas’ warning, FEMA has the funds needed for ‘immediate response and recovery’
However, Johnson is unwilling to recall lawmakers to Washington to deal with the disasters.
Johnson said on Fox, “You don’t just send estimates to the federal government. You send specific requirements and requests based on actual damage. And that takes some time, especially with a hurricane of this magnitude. So Congress will do its job. ” ,
Therefore, lawmakers must first reload the DRF for immediate future needs, then make the bulk of the change needed for Americans to deal with the impacts of Helen and Milton. The deadline for government funding is December 20. It is possible that the latter part of the funding will be diverted to spending measures around Christmas.
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But as far as politics is concerned? Elections are fast approaching. Storms could impact voting this fall. and while Helen and Milton They will certainly leave a meteorological mark, they will probably leave an electoral mark as well.
