White House prepares $5.9B request to help Harvey recovery efforts
WASHINGTON -- The White House has prepared a request to Congress for an initial $5.9 billion package in Harvey recovery aid, a first down payment to make sure recovery efforts over the next few weeks are adequately funded.
The Trump proposal, which is being finalized pending White House consultations with key Republicans, promises to represent just a fraction of an eventual Harvey recovery package that could rival the $100-billion-plus in taxpayer-financed help for victims of 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
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The White House is seeking $5.5 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund. There is a $450 million request to the Small Business Administration Disaster Relief program.
A senior administration official said the plan will be sent to Congress on Friday and House and Senate votes appear likely next week. The official was not authorized to release the information publicly before a final decision is made and spoke on condition of anonymity.
House GOP leaders have signaled they are aiming to act fast on Harvey aid. Much larger future installments will be required but the initial package, to replenish Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster coffers through Sept. 30, shouldn't be controversial.
FEMA is spending existing disaster aid reserves -- just $2.1 billion as of Thursday -- at a high rate.
The initial aid money would be a down payment for immediate recovery efforts, to be followed by larger packages later, said White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert. It will take weeks or months to assess the full extent of the damage and need.
"We'll go up to Congress and give them a sound supplemental request number. We'll add to it," Bossert said. "And when we can a better handle on the damage we can come back with a responsible last, so to speak, supplemental request."
Houston Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has already said it could take an aid package of $150 billion to handle the disaster.
It's not yet known how much money the administration will ask for in the initial request, but congressional aides expect at least enough money to carry out relief efforts through the end of the budget year on Sept 30.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is the costliest natural disaster the nation has faced, with recovery costs of $110 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Superstorm Sandy in 2012 was followed by a $54 billion federal relief effort.
Another aid installment seems sure to be added to a temporary government funding bill.
The call Wednesday night included officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the aide said. They say the full scope of damages might not be known for weeks or more, and the flood waters in Texas and Louisiana may take weeks to recede, aides said.
The House GOP aides were not authorized to be quoted by name discussing details of the private conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity. They said no specific dollar figures or timing were discussed.
Another concern is that the government's cash reserves are running low since the nation's debt limit has been reached and the Treasury Department is using accounting measures to cover expenses. Billions of dollars in Harvey aid are an unexpected cost that at least raises the potential that Congress will have to act earlier than expected to increase the government's borrowing authority.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, however, said on CNBC Thursday that the debt limit deadline probably won't change by more than a couple of days, if at all.
Also on tap when the House returns: Fixing a poorly-timed spending bill for next year that actually proposes cutting the very disaster aid reserves that are running low now. A catchall domestic spending bill facing a House vote next week includes, for now, an $876 million cut from FEMA disaster accounts that helps balance the cost of President Trump's $1.6 billion request for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Republicans say that will change before a vote next week.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump will donate $1 million toward Hurricane Harvey relief in Texas, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday.
The president said he will donate his personal money, according to Sanders, although she could not say with certainty that the president meant his own bank account and not the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Mr. Trump, who will visit Texas Saturday for the second time since the deadly storm hit, has yet to pick a charity and is open to suggestions, Sanders said. Sanders said she would "assume" the money comes from the president's personal funding, as that is how he phrased it.
"I had a chance to speak directly with the president earlier, and I'm happy to tell you that he would like to join in the efforts that a lot of the people that we've seen across this country do," Sanders said. "And he's pledging a million dollars of personal money to the fund. And he's actually asked that I check with the folks in this room, since you are very good at research and have been doing a lot of reporting into the groups and organizations that are best and most effective in helping and providing aid, and he'd love some suggestions from the folks here, and I'd be happy to take those if any of you have them."
