The Trump administration requested $29 billion in disaster aid from Congress on Wednesday.
The aid package request consists of almost $13 billion in new relief for victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as $16 billion to support FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program.
FEMA operates its insurance program off a line of credit provided by the U.S. Treasury. Congress caps that borrowing limit at roughly $30 billion.
Before Hurricane Harvey made landfall in southeast Texas in August, FEMA had already borrowed almost $25 billion from the Treasury. It used that money to pay off claims from disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy.
By mid-September, the National Flood Insurance Program had borrowed the remaining $5.8 billion.
The $16 billion President Donald Trump is requesting would wipe out more than half of the program's debt.
Trump's request is on top of the more than $15 billion in disaster aid Congress approved last month to help clean up the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
