FEMA funding showdown brewing in Congress

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET

Congress is headed for a showdown over disaster relief funding that could bring the government to the brink of a government shutdown again.

House Speaker John Boehner has scheduled a vote tomorrow on a bill that would keep the government operating through Nov. 18. If the Senate and the House do not approve the stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution, before the fiscal year ends Sept 30, the government would be forced to shutdown.

The House bill includes $1 billion in immediate funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $2.65 billion for next year, but the Republican measure also includes a provision to offset the FEMA funds with cuts to the Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

That offset has Democrats up in arms, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer Jill Jackson reports. They say it's a dangerous precedent to offset disaster relief funding, and they say revoking funding for the vehicle manufacturing program will hinder job growth in that field.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today that the Senate would vote on its own, much larger, FEMA funding measure instead of the House version.

"I was disappointed to see the House short-changed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and it is a real, real short-change," Reid said on the Senate floor today.

The Senate last week passed a bill to replenish FEMA's disaster relief funding with nearly $7 billion. Reid said today that he'll amend the House's continuing resolution legislation when it gets to the Senate later this week, to replace the House FEMA funding provision with the Senate version.

Reid noted that following Hurricane Irene and several other costly natural disasters across the country, President Obama has declared a state of disaster in all but two states. "FEMA is quickly running out of money to help American families and communities recover," he said.

FEMA officials have said that its disaster fund is quickly depleting and could run out by the end of the fiscal year.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also said today that the continuing resolution should pass without the GOP offsets. "The Republicans $1.5 billion cut in the Advanced Manufacturing Technology initiative is counterproductive to the growth of jobs," he said. "We think they're making a mistake."

By putting their version of the FEMA funding bill on the continuing resolution, House Republicans are betting that Democrats will go along with it for the sake of avoiding a government shutdown. So far, though Reid appears to be standing his grown.

Lawmakers have just a matter of days to come to an agreement on the issue -- both the House and the Senate are schedule to be in recess next week, making Friday the last day to pass a continuing resolution before risking a government shutdown on Sept. 30.

Update: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said today that the continuing resolution will pass in the House, but if it fails in the Senate, "it will be on leader Reid's shoulders because he's the one playing politics with it."

"No one wants to stand in the way of disaster relief moneys that are needed," Cantor continued. "There's nothing else but politics going on with that move if that's what happens."

Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., added that the House does not have the votes to pass the funding measure if Reid sends it back to the House with disaster funding that is not offset. "Listen, from understanding the floor the votes, if Reid does what he does, I don't see the votes on the floor for it," he said. "So he's holding up the ability for individuals to get the relief."

Cantor would not commit to keeping the House in session past Friday if the Senate and House have not passed a funding bill to avert a government shutdown.

Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., insisted Tuesday that there won't be a government shutdown, and FEMA will receive the needed funding, though he could not say how Congress will work out the differences.

"Congress always responds appropriately to disasters," he said. "We're having a discussion about the appropriate way to do that, and I'm confident it'll be resolved"

[starman5409]

How long are we going to put up with Republicans hijacking congress so they can further stall the economy and make it look like Pres. Obama's fault.

The speaker of the house and all Republicans who continue their obstructionist and absolutist ways will find themselves having a rude awakening when they are impeached and thrown out for treason and un-constitutioinal activities. If you read the Declaration of Independence, it is precisely for that type of behavior that we threw out the British over 200 years ago.

If you want riots in the streets like in Greece and Egypt, keep it up Republicans. You have to be really dumb if you think that the American People don't see what you're doing. If you think this kind of behavior will get you re-elected, think again. You Mr. Speaker are going to single handedly destroy the Republican Party, and any chance for you're re- election. GOOD JOB.

[myIife2live]

LOL. Maybe 10 people in the whole US will agree with you. Not me, though! Keep it up, Republicans, and let the riots start. Its about time Democrats know that marching and rioting are not paying jobs!

[Lindag10]

Isn't spell check wonderful? Not only does Reid stand his "grown" but Congress is "schedule to be in recess". I DO have a gripe with Congress about the vacation. They just had five weeks off, so the lazy bums don't need ANOTHER vacation. As a taxpayer, I don't mind giving them four weeks paid vacation every year, plus Federal holidays, but anything else should be without pay. If they worked for a normal business they'd be out of a job for failure to report to work. What a racket being a Congress person is.

[myIife2live]

FEMA, like Medicaid and other Federal Goverment programs, allows people to steal and scam and avoid paying for insurance, both medical insurance and shelter insurance. FEMA should be limited to immediate disaster relief - providing cleanup and repair of infrastructure to get area city, county, etc. groups functioning after a disaster. Charity always provides enough expendibles such as water, food, clothes, etc. FEMA should be limited to the cleanup and repair of PUBLIC property, not private property. In other words, if your house lands on a street, FEMA should get it off the street; if it lands other private property, you should be responsible yourself for cleaning it up. FEMA should provide only the basics, and these FEMA trailers, instead of being sold, should have been stored for other disasters. Instead, they sold them off at a pittance of the price paid. They never should have been supplied in the first place, but at least FEMA could have kept them for further disasters.

[aftinc]

The democrates CAN NOT create jobs by bailing out something like Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. What is this, they just don't get it but they will get it in 2012. Here's my thoguht, if Charley Ragels voters knew he was voting in stuff like this instead of supporting something that would lift blacks from 20%unemployement he never be re-elected, do you see how these democrates work, all smoke and mirrors to the rich they really do support. If the democartes wanted to create jobs they would change the laws that the gov uses when buying products to a strcit "buy american", that would put not only more blacks back to work but many more americans. The gov can not create jobs with stuff like this, leave these projest to the private sector by creating incentives not by spending our money on their ruch freinds.

[stn_sage]

FEMA has been a classic case of MISMANAGEMENT since it's inception!
Dissolve it! It's primary purpose was to circumvent the rule of law and allow the person in charge to wage dictatorial powers!
Set it up as a liaison between the federal govt and state govts
who will submit monetary requests based on damages incurred in respective states, with FEMA to act as inspector and verifier
of requests, then recommend monetary amounts of payment!
Nothing more! Currently, it does little but waste money
and create problems, and we'd be better off without it!

[slatep]

I thought we were finished having to listen to all the petty, childish bickering over expenditures like this until the end of November after the formation of the Super Committee.

Curses.! FOOLED AGAIN.!!

[Palrak]

Reid "appears to be standing his grown." (What does that mean? Where are the proofreaders?) Reid will stand his "grown" whenever it means opposing anything the House proposes.

As for another CR??? Puh-leeeze. We're sick and tired of procrastination.