Congressional appropriators and advocacy groups are jockeying for last-minute changes to the White House’s sprawling $115 billion disaster aid request as negotiators prepare to release text for the supplemental funding bill in the coming days.
The fight over what kinds of programs should receive plus-ups in the year-end disaster legislation — and which programs shouldn’t — comes days after President Joe Biden expanded his original $99 billion request and as lawmakers continue parallel negotiations around a stopgap measure to kick government funding into early next year.
The House and Senate are almost certain to attach the disaster package to the short-term funding extension known as a continuing resolution, and any lingering squabbles over spending allocations and disaster needs could threaten to derail a deal to avert a shutdown and provide urgently needed disaster assistance before Christmas.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday that “both sides are making progress negotiating on a bill that will pass the House and Senate with bipartisan support.”
