Rep. Maxwell Frost says Congress should return “as soon as possible” to replenish disaster relief funds

Rep. Maxwell Frost, Democrat of Florida, said Sunday that Congress should return “as soon as possible” to replenish disaster relief funds and not wait until Nov. 12 when Congress is scheduled to reconvene.

“Why wait until Nov. 12? We don’t know what’s going to be happening in terms of natural disasters or storms,” Frost said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”  “I think it’s important that an agency like FEMA have even — not just what they need, but even more than what they need to ensure that they have the resources necessary, of course, to help with the current operation.”

In late September, Congress passed a short-term spending bill that authorized FEMA to utilize the agency’s fiscal year 2025 resources sooner, drawing $20 billion from its disaster relief fund. However, the stopgap spending bill did not include billions of additional dollars that the White House Office of Management and Budget had requested for already existing recovery efforts. 

Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26 in Florida’s Big Bend region before causing devastating floods in Tennessee and North Carolina. Less than two weeks later, powerful Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida’s Siesta Key. 

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Wednesday that the agency is currently able to “support all of the needs of everyone that was impacted by Helene and Milton,” but that the agency expects to need additional funds in the future.

President Biden on Thursday called on lawmakers to “move as rapidly as they can” on emergency funding, particularly for Small Business Administration disaster money, which is running precariously low. However, the president said he hasn’t spoken with House Speaker Mike Johnson or asked him to bring Congress sooner. Mr. Biden on Sunday announced $600 million in aid for areas affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene while he was touring the damaged St. Petersburg region in Florida.

So far, congressional leaders have not called for lawmakers to return to Washington before Nov. 12 to address additional disaster funding.

A group of bipartisan senators signed a letter urging Senate leaders to bring lawmakers back into session, saying, “this may even require Congress to come back in October to ensure we have enough time to enact legislation before the end of this calendar year.” House lawmakers also sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson requesting that the House reconvene to allocate further disaster relief aid.

Johnson said Sunday on “Face the Nation” that FEMA has the necessary funding to last until Congress’ return to Washington in November.

“It can wait… because remember, Congress appropriated $20 billion additional to FEMA so that they would have the necessary resources to address immediate needs,” Johnson said. “It would be premature to call everyone back now, because these storms are so large in their scope and magnitude, it’s going to take a little bit of time to make those calculations.”

Frost argued Sunday that Congress should proactively provide more disaster funding and not wait until after more damage is caused by this year’s disastrous hurricane season.

“The thing we have to understand is, yes, FEMA has the resources necessary to deal with the current situation, but like was mentioned in the previous segment, NOAA is predicting, and we’ve seen, that this is one of the worst hurricane seasons we’ve seen.” Frost said. “We’re not done with this hurricane season, it doesn’t end, really, till the end of November… why leave it up to chance when we can ensure that FEMA has the resources it needs?”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also joined “Face the Nation” on Sunday, pressuring Congress to react accordingly to the unprecedented hurricane season.

“We need Congress to act swiftly to fund FEMA and specifically its Disaster Relief Fund, because hurricane season is not over, and also seasons are less and less important now, given the effects of climate change and the increasing gravity and frequency of extreme weather events.”