FEMA okay on disaster money - for now

Biden again calls Trump 'un-American' over disaster criticism

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 11, 2024:

• How much disaster money does FEMA have?

• The long road to fixing roads destroyed by Helene.

• In Detroit speech, Trump dumps on the Motor City.

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DISASTER AID. While Hurricane Milton left a trail of death and destruction in Florida, the storm damage was not as bad as many officials initially feared - and that likely eases the pressure on Congress when it comes to the need to approve extra disaster relief funds. But it may not lower the temperature much on the political bickering associated with the response to Hurricane Helene.

• CONGRESS. "We have the resources to respond to the immediate needs of individuals impacted by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters. "That being said, we will need additional funds, and we implore Congress, when it returns to in fact, fund FEMA, as is needed."

• CAP HILL. While House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he won't bring lawmakers back before Election Day to vote on extra aid, some Republicans do want to return. "This needs to happen," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) tweeted on Thursday. "Speaker Johnson call us back."

• SBA. One of the agencies running low on emergency funding is the Small Business Administration. “I think the Congress should be coming back and moving on emergency needs immediately,” President Biden told reporters - though Biden said action on FEMA can wait until after the election.

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TRUMP. On the campaign trail in Michigan, there was no ceasefire over Hurricane Helene, as Donald Trump again denounced the federal response in North Carolina. "The federal government," Trump said, "has not done what you're supposed to be doing. In particular with respect to North Carolina, they've let down those people unjustly."

• BIDEN. Back at the White House, President Biden again bristled at Trump's evidence-free criticism of the Hurricane Helene relief effort. Asked by a reporter if he had spoken with Trump, Biden was incredulous. "Are you kidding me?" Biden said, before directing a message to Trump. "Get a life, man - help these people," Biden added in a mic drop moment.

• UNCHAINED. There's definitely been a change in how Biden publicly deals with questions about Trump in recent days, as one gets the feeling that Biden is completely fed up with his predecessor.

• 47 ON 45. "It's un-American," Biden said of Trump's baseless claims about a lack of FEMA disaster aid. "The truth is we're providing the resources needed to rescue, recover and rebuild."

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MAILBAG. One of the more frequent questions this week to me was this: "Do we know why FEMA is so low on funding?” What happened at FEMA is pretty simple - they spent their disaster money in 2024 on disasters. It went for floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and hurricanes. (It did not go to fund programs for illegal immigrants.)

• BALANCE. How much money does FEMA have right now? Speaker Mike Johnson correctly notes that the recent CR approved by Congress okayed $20 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund, with authority to draw on that full amount - even though the stopgap spending plan only goes through December 20.

• DETAILS. "We did appropriate $20 billion additional to FEMA with early drawdown authority," Johnson said on Thursday. "So they're sitting on a giant pile of cash and they haven't used it yet."

• PAYMENT DUE. But FEMA also has a lot of payments which must be made out of the Disaster Relief Fund, so the real total is closer to $13 billion. In other words, immediate action by Congress isn’t needed for FEMA - but extra money will be needed soon - especially after the damage from Helene and Milton.

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EDWARDS. Despite all sorts of complaints from Donald Trump - and a host of conspiracy theories about Hurricane Helene and the federal response - the local GOP Congressman who represents the damaged area in North Carolina, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), was trumpeting these stats about FEMA for his region:

• FEMA has shipped 6 million liters of water.

• FEMA has sent 4 million individual meals.

• FEMA has paid out more than $37 million in housing assistance.

MYTHS. If you missed the letter from Edwards about all of the conspiracy theories related to Helene damage - like the government controlling the weather or seizing one town near Asheville - you can find it at this link. "These conspiracy theories," Edwards said, "have done more harm than most people may realize."

• COLUMN. In many ways, the false claims and outright lies about Hurricane Helene relief remind me of the false GOP claims about the 2020 election. It produced all sorts of outrage from Donald Trump and Republicans, but the charges weren’t true. That's my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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AFTERMATH. One of the most challenging parts of a natural disaster is what happens when the rest of the world moves on. The damage is still there, but the focus of the nation quickly shifts to something else. That's what officials face in both North Carolina and Tennessee when it comes to restoring roads in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

• ROADS. "The long road to rebuilding is in progress," the North Carolina Department of Transportation said this week. That's because so many roads in the hills around Asheville need to be rebuilt. It's especially important because so many people are basically 'trapped' in their rural communities by road closures.

• I-40/I-26. The big interstates also need attention from Congress and the feds. In Tennessee, flood waters washed out two bridges on I-26. Over in North Carolina, there are major problems on I-40. No one is talking about fully reopening those highways until some time in 2025. The feds have already sent $132 million to those two states for road repairs.

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FORECAST. Finally, let's give the National Hurricane Center some applause. The very first forecast that the NHC issued on Hurricane Milton - when it was just a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico - was only off by 12 miles in terms of where the storm ultimately hit the Gulf Coast of Florida.

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TAXES. Donald Trump unveiled more tax cutting plans on Thursday, further expanding a host of tax breaks that he has offered in this campaign. His latest plan would make interest on car loans fully deductible, as a way to get Americans to buy more vehicles to help the auto industry.

• CAR LOANS. "When we do all of this, you will witness nothing less than the launch of a new American industrial revolution," Trump said. In his speech, he also again denounced efforts by the Biden Administration to get U.S. automakers to produce more electric vehicles.

• SWING STATE. Trump unveiled his tax plans on Thursday during a speech before the Detroit Economic Club. But in a move that only Trump would make, instead of saying nice things about the largest city in the swing state of Michigan, Trump trashed it in his remarks.

• DETROIT. "You want to know the truth?" Trump said. "Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if (Harris) is elected President." It was nothing new for Trump. Back during the 2020 campaign, Trump said living in Detroit and other big cities is like 'living in hell.'

DEMS. A few hours before Detroit baseball fans were set to watch their beloved Tigers in the playoffs, Democrats were more than happy to defend the Motor City. "Detroit is the epitome of 'grit,'" said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. "Crime is down and our population is growing," said Mayor Mike Duggan. "And we did it all without Trump's help."

• BIG CITIES. What is Trump doing? That's an easy answer. One key belief of Trump and his supporters is that big cities like Detroit are Democratic Party hellholes. I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me that Washington, D.C. is a war zone - but they seemingly have never been here.

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ECONOMY. There were more good economic signs this week, building on the most recent jobs report. The last inflation report before the November elections showed inflation dropped for the six month in a row. It is now running at an annual rate of 2.4 percent, the lowest rate in three years.

• POLITICS. Obviously, the two parties look at these numbers and come to completely different conclusions. "Inflation continues to cool," said Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), "thanks to the Biden-Harris administration's economic policies." (We should note that inflation was at 9 percent when the 'Inflation Reduction Act' was passed in 2022.)

• GOP. But we all know how prices have gone up for food, and Republicans are trying to make sure everyone remembers that over the next few weeks. "Kamalanomics has driven us to the fiscal edge," said Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA). "We clearly can't afford four more years of Kamala Harris," added Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA).

• METRICS. Let's be honest. If I told you that the incumbent party in the White House had this record, you would think victory would be a slam dunk. But it hasn’t played out that way in the 2024 campaign.

  • Historically low unemployment of 4.1 percent.

  • Inflation low at 2.4 percent.

  • Stock market up 25 percent in the last year.

  • Big wage gains for the bottom 50 percent.

  • Strongest economic growth of any nation in the world.

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TRUMP LEGAL. A federal judge on Thursday ruled in favor of releasing more evidence from the Jan. 6 case against Donald Trump - but Judge Tanya Chutkan put that on hold for one week, to give Trump's lawyers time for possible legal challenges. Chutkan said just because there is an election in a few weeks doesn't mean this case should be put on hold.

• CHUTKAN. "As the court has stated previously, “Defendant’s concern with the political consequences of these proceedings” is not a cognizable legal prejudice," Chutkan wrote. She also chided Trump's lawyers for giving 'no specific substantive objections' to the release of this evidentiary 'Appendix.'

• ELECTIONS. The ruling came a few hours after Trump's lawyers argued against the pre-election public release of any more information from the Jan. 6 case against Trump. "There should be no further disclosures at this time of the so-called 'evidence' that the Special Counsel's Office has unlawfully cherry-picked," Trump's lawyers wrote.

• APPENDIX. Last week, Judge Chutkan allowed the release of a 165 page brief by the Special Counsel, which laid out all sorts of evidence about Trump's effort to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. At issue now is the 'Appendix' to that brief, which seems to be a compilation of that evidence against Trump.

ELECTION. Trump and his lawyers have repeatedly labeled this as 'election interference' - with these court fights coming just weeks before Election Day. But remember - the only reason this is happening now is because the trial for Trump has been delayed repeatedly. It was originally set to begin on March 4.

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RAP SHEET. A Virginia man has been found guilty of various Jan. 6 charges. Robert DeGregoris was part of a group of rioters who tried repeatedly to breach police lines in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel. DeGregoris joined in physically pushing against officers, and helped others try to use a ladder to strike police. "Took some pepper spray & tear gas breaching the front doors," he wrote on social media. "Worth it."

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MUSE OF HISTORY.  October 11, 1943.  On this date, the House scrapped over a tax bill, with one lawmaker angered that 21-year-old Marshall Field III had just received an inheritance of over $70 million - none of which would be taxed.  "A bunch of shrewd lawyers wrote that will of Marshall Field," said Rep. John Rankin of Mississippi.  Rankin didn't say it on this day - but he had earlier accused Field of using his family's money to stir up trouble with the 'the Negroes of Washington.'

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House next has votes on November 12.

The Senate comes back for votes on November 12.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.

Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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