Congress

Trump Asks Congress For $29 Billion In Additional Disaster Aid

The aid package request consists of almost $13 billion in new relief for victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Trump Asks Congress For $29 Billion In Additional Disaster Aid
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Article by Katherine Biek
SMS
October 4, 2017

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.

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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.