The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives and the Democrat-led Senate will attempt to negotiate appropriation bills that would continue to fund government agencies and avoid a shutdown, which could suspend hurricane relief funds for Florida.
Congress has just 11 days before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 to negotiate 12 funding bills to keep government agencies like FEMA up and running.
The GOP majority in the House is trying to leverage the idea of shutting down to win spending cuts.
For the time being, Republicans in the House have passed only one spending bill –for military construction.
In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is awaiting $16 billion of additional funds proposed by the Biden administration. This separate funding would support FEMA disaster relief and help address immediate operations in response to the Maui wildfires, Hurricane Idalia, and other disasters in the near future.
The disaster relief funds could benefit Florida if Hurricane Lee or another storm were to strike the state.
With the Hurricane season hovering over Florida and the nation, FEMA hopes to receive funding in the near future for assistance in disaster relief programs.
