House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) suggested the public is “frustrated” over the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to Hurricane Helene, and that this is where most of the controversy around the agency stems from.
The agency’s handling of funding has come under scrutiny after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said FEMA is running out of money to respond to future hurricanes, with former President Donald Trump claiming the U.S. government “stole” FEMA money to give to illegal immigrants. FEMA denied this claim, explaining that it has its own Disaster Relief Fund dedicated to providing disaster relief.
“The streams of funding are different, that is not an untrue statement, of course, but the problem is what the American people see and what they’re frustrated by is that FEMA should be involved, that the Federal Emergency Management Association, their mission is to help people in times like this in natural disaster, not to be engaged in using any pool of funding from any account for resettling illegal aliens who have come across the border,” Johnson said on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream. “That’s what the Biden administration, Kamala Harris, and Secretary Mayorkas have been engaged in, this program. They have spent precious treasure of the American people and taxpayers to do just that.”
WATCH: @SpeakerJohnson calls the federal response to Hurricane Helene an ‘abject failure’ pic.twitter.com/fjXVMQHt3N
— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) October 6, 2024
FEMA has not diverted funds from its Disaster Relief Fund amid its response to Helene and directed over $110 million to those affected. However, earlier this year the agency allocated $640 million toward its Shelter and Services Program aimed at assisting migrants.
Johnson added that U.S. residents are “disgusted” over its government prioritizing migrants over hurricane victims, and claimed that these actions would stop “after Nov. 5,” which is Election Day. He also predicted that Republicans would have a “unified government” that would bring “sanity back to this situation.”
The House speaker was also asked about recent comments from Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), who claimed Congress could take funds meant for Ukraine and instead be reallocated toward victims of Hurricane Helene. Johnson said he had not heard of these comments from Rosendale, but assured the necessary funding for hurricane victims will be provided.
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Following Hurricane Helene, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced legislation that would terminate FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program and divert funds meant for migrants to hurricane victims.
About the Biden administration’s response to Helene, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested the administration was “caught flat-footed” and that it took far too long for them to properly address the crisis.