Senate tees up House-passed disaster relief bill

The Senate is turning to a House-passed bill aimed at helping communities impacted by a spate of recent natural disasters.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) brought up the bill late Thursday and set up an initial procedural vote for Monday evening. Absent a deal, the Senate would be poised to pass the legislation early Wednesday.

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The move came after senators mulled adding extra funding into the bill amid backlash from lawmakers from states hit hard by the recent hurricanes and wildfires.

“I think so far what has been done is not been as much as we should do, so we’re having a conversation with various members who come from the regions affected by Maria, by Irma, by Harvey, by wildfires, other natural disasters,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters on Wednesday.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) separately added on Thursday he wanted more money for Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria. 

But President Trump agreed to take up an additional aid request next month.

Cornyn told the Houston Chronicle that he had gotten a “commitment” for the administration to support more disaster funding separate from the current House-passed bill.

Senators had hoped they would be able to pass the House legislation on Thursday evening after passing the fiscal year 2018 budget. McConnell’s move to file cloture on the bill implies that at least one senator is slow-walking the legislation.

The House passed the bill last week before leaving Washington for a weeklong recess. The legislation would provide $36.5 billion to fund hurricane relief, a flood insurance program and wildfire recovery efforts in the West amid a string of natural disasters.

The House bill also includes $18.7 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund, $16 billion to address national flood insurance program debt and $576.5 million for wildfire recovery efforts. It also provided $1.27 billion for disaster food assistance for Puerto Rico.