Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) is joining the growing number of people questioning how it is possible that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is running out of money during Florida’s hurricane season.
FEMA is under fire for claiming its lack of funding, which the agency says won’t last through Nov. 30, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The agency argued there were twice as many disasters in 2023 than in 2016.
“We are used to hurricanes. I went through Andrew 1992. We’re Floridians. What we’re not used to is FEMA not having money for us,” Salazar said on Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria Wednesday. “The real hurricane is Biden-Harris Administration.”
Host Maria Bartiromo asked Salazar why Congress funded the Shelter and Services Program after voting it into effect last year. FEMA allocated $640 million this year toward its Shelter and Services Program, which has helped immigrants find food and housing, separate from its $20 million in disaster preparedness funding.
“Well because we give the money … we give it to the administration, then the administration needs to manage that money well,” Salazar said. “But it’s just the Biden administration. We trust the federal government, and look what they do.”
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This year, Congress did not opt to add $10 billion toward natural disasters in last month’s continuing resolution to fund the government.
Hurricane Milton, the most recent storm to hit Florida, resulted in 16 deaths. Another 1,600 people and 140 pets needed rescue and millions of homes and business spaces were without power for days.