When you look at the federal budget, you may notice that a small percentage of it is allocated toward FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). At the start of the fiscal year, Congress appropriated $20 billion dollars for this fund, well short of what the Biden administration requested for. With Hurricane Helene and Milton devastating coastal states, this decision to undercut FEMA’s funding could prove consequential.

Not too long ago, wildfires ravaged Maui and the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed causing significant damage. While still attempting to recover from these travesties, Hurricane Helene and Milton had to add to the devastation. Hurricane Helene struck Keaton Beach in Florida on September 23rd. The infamous category 5 hurricane wrecked communities not only in Florida, but all along the east coast. Massive storms and intense flooding caused innumerable infrastructure damages, heavy rains caused mudfall and power outages, and estimates of upwards of 600 fatalities across 6 states. In quick succession, as Hurricane Helene started to dwindle, a new hurricane emerged: Hurricane Milton. Both of these hurricanes combined have forced the national government to invest heavily in recovery efforts. According to The Politico, FEMA has spent almost half of the DRF on just immediate relief efforts in affected areas. What this entails is that essential infrastructure damaged during recent natural disasters won’t be properly addressed as FEMA has to preserve what little it has left for possible life-threatening events. States rely heavily on the federal government for financial support post-disaster, so without FEMA’s support, the remnants of the hurricanes and any past and impending natural disaster won’t be properly resolved as it stands. 

Unless Congress acts swiftly, recovery efforts could halt, small businesses could go out of business, and victims could go without essential resources. Congress needs to pass a disaster aid bill, and they need to do it quickly considering the context. The issue is that Congress is out of session until the general election in November is over. The President has the ability to call for an emergency session in extenuating circumstances, but it remains doubtful that something like this could happen. While several House democrats have urged for the House to reconvene, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has been quite dismissive of the proposition. Instead, a more realistic solution to this emergency would be to pass disaster aid legislation through “unanimous consent”. This is a procedure where bills can be passed without legislators being present in DC if all 535 members of Congress have no objections to said bill. Unanimous consent was used to designate funding for Hurricane Katrina. Similarly, this method could be used in our present state to provide more aid to FEMA. Whatever path our federal government chooses to take, one thing remains clear – our representatives need to act, and they need to act now. But hey, it’s just a thought!