Speaker Johnson Says More Disaster Aid Necessary After Helene

(Bloomberg) — Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said existing disaster funds won’t be enough to cover the needs of victims of Hurricane Helene and predicted Congress will need to pass additional aid.
But Johnson rejected calls from some lawmakers from hurricane-ravaged states for Congress to return early from a break running through the Nov. 5 election in order to pass a relief measure.
Johnson said Wednesday that officials would need “30 days or more” to finish assessing the damage from the storm before Congress acts.
“Congress will have to address it,” Johnson added during an interview on Fox News. “I mean, this is an appropriate role for the federal government.”
Helene, which roared ashore as a Category 4 hurricane in western Florida Thursday night has killed more than 160 people with damage and economic losses estimated as high as $160 billion. 
The Federal Emergency Management Agency received some $20 billion in the latest stop-gap government funding bill. Even with that funding, the agency is predicting the fund they use for response and recovery for disasters will be at a $3 billion deficit by February as they continue paying for previous storms and COVID.  
Johnson said FEMA will “of course” need additional funds for the recovery effort, which extends into North Carolina. 
Congress could pass an initial tranche of hurricane relief on a fast-tracked voice vote that does not require all lawmakers come back to Washington from their break, providing no lawmaker demands an actual roll-call vote. 
That, however, could run into resistance from ultra-conservatives in the House like Thomas Massie, who in 2019 held up emergency funding until after a week-long break, and require lawmakers to return to Washington to vote.
–With assistance from Billy House.
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