Uncertain future for disaster relief in Congress
Many lawmakers looking for home state aid
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for November 28, 2024:
Just one House seat in California remains undecided.
More evidence-free claims of vote fraud from the GOP.
Elon and Vivek to meet with Republicans next week.
EDITOR’S NOTE. Hopefully there will be no major breaking news events to interrupt Thanksgiving. Regular Order will take a day off on Friday, and will return on Monday, December 2. Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend!
DISASTER AID. As lawmakers sit down for Thanksgiving dinner back home today, no one is quite sure what the House or Senate will put forward in December for a disaster relief package. But one thing is very clear - a lot of members in both parties see this as the 'last train out' this year - and they are trying to make sure their own disaster aid needs get addressed.
MONEY. How much is needed for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund? While Congress approved $20 billion in October - almost $15 billion of that was already obligated for other disasters. So there is $6.7 billion left - with an estimate that $30 billion more will be needed - not including full recovery work for Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
PRICE TAG. President Biden has asked for $100 billion. I find it hard to believe that House Republicans are going to approve that much - just as they are getting ready to push for big cuts in government spending. Those two things don't square in my mind. But we'll wait and see what comes out.
ACTION. "I am pushing on Senate leadership to pass a disaster supplemental next week," said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), whose state was also damaged by Helene. "Southwest Virginians can’t wait until the end of the year. We need to pass this NOW."
DETAILS. That call to action might sound great, but nothing is going to get approved by the Senate next week - unless there is a bipartisan agreement. Some of the highlights from the White House plan include:
$40 billion for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund
$24 billion in aid to farmers
$12 billion for housing aid
$8 billion to repair roads and bridges
XMAS TREE. Members of both parties know there will be a lot of pressure to pass something on disaster aid before Christmas. And they hope to take advantage of that to make sure their own local disasters are dealt with. New Yorkers want money to deal with wildfires and storms. Georgia lawmakers want help for farmers. Alabama lawmakers want help for tornado damage. And much more.
AID HELP. "I will be working day and night to ensure that IA04 receives its fair share of the pie," said Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA), who wants flood relief for his state. "Our communities now need the funds to rebuild," said Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), whose district was hit the hardest in western North Carolina.
DOGE. You probably know that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been put in charge of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (which doesn’t really exist) - tasked by Donald Trump to find all sorts of budget cuts. The duo will be on Capitol Hill next week for a meeting with GOP lawmakers. Speaker Mike Johnson sent out this invite on Wednesday.
HOLIDAYS. Are you looking for something different this holiday season? How about giving the gift of news from Capitol Hill - with a gift subscription to Regular Order. Next year will be a busy one in Congress with full GOP control and Donald Trump back in the White House.
HOUSE MAJORITY. And then there was one. Only one seat remains too close to call in the 2024 elections. A recount confirmed yesterday that Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) won reelection in Iowa by 798 votes. Meanwhile, in California, Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA) acknowledged her reelection loss in CA-45 to Democratic challenger Derek Tran.
STOP THE STEEL. Behind by 596 votes, Steel called Tran by phone to concede defeat. “Everything is God's will and, like all journeys, this one is ending for a new one to begin," Steel wrote in a statement, thanking her staff, family, and supporters. Steel has already filed to run again in 2026.
ONE LEFT. The only House seat not called yet is CA-13, where Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) fell further behind on Wednesday - and now trails by 190 votes. I told you the other day how Duarte's Democratic challenger, Adam Gray, had been concentrating on 'curing' ballots - with the help of one of Nancy Pelosi’s daughters. It looks like that has paid off.
THIN MAJORITY. A victory for Gray would give Democrats 215 seats in the next Congress. Republicans would start with 219 seats - and then lose two lawmakers to jobs in the Trump Administration early in next year, cutting that majority to 217-215 until at least April. It’s the smallest majority since 1930.
PREDICTION. Three weeks ago, I said that Democrats had a very good chance to come back and flip three GOP seats in California, citing the 'Blue Mail' effect, where mail ballots often provide late big margins for Democrats. That's exactly what happened this year in CA-27, CA-45, and CA-13.
GOP ANGER. National Republicans have no evidence of wrongdoing, but they are increasingly lashing out at the state of California for the lengthy vote tabulation. “What a farce,” tweeted Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of Florida on Wednesday. "They are not counting votes, they are finding votes," charged Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), who offered no evidence for his claim of election fraud.
CALIFORNIA. For reporters like me, the extended vote counting in California is like a holiday tradition. This is what I follow from Election Day to Thanksgiving every two years. But to many others, this ongoing vote count is absolutely unacceptable, and I hear about it every day on social media.
WINNERS. Usually, it’s a refrain of something like, ‘Democrats keep counting until they win.’ (Narrator: These same people didn’t complain two years ago when Duarte won by 564 votes - in a race which wasn’t called until December 2.)
REFORM. What is obvious is that California and other western states should consider changes to their system, in order to speed up the vote count. A bill was introduced this week to do just that in Arizona, which uses a similar system to California. It would be a good thing for everyone.
SYSTEM. I still think the answer is more early in-person voting and less emphasis on mailing ballots. We can see how much time and effort was spent in states to ‘cure’ ballots where people made mistakes in submitting their votes.
CERTIFICATION. The funny thing is that for all of the complaints, people don’t realize that most states are still finalizing their vote. But since there aren’t high profile races for the House in limbo, they’re not getting any attention.
STATES. For example - just this week, Texas added on 47,000 votes. Massachusetts tabulated another 39,000. There were another 19,000 in Maryland. Alabama added 8,000 votes. Mississippi dropped another 30,000 votes.
SYSTEM. All of this is normal. What most people don’t realize is that it takes time to adjudicate damaged ballots, provisional ballots, and overseas military ballots. This isn’t fraud. It’s how the system works. If you want a better system, then you should spend more money and add more people.
GIULIANI. I'm going to say it again - the saddest sight in America right now is watching the fall of Rudy Giuliani. America's Mayor sold himself out for Donald Trump's completely false claims of election fraud in 2020, and it resulted in a defamation suit which has basically left Giuliani old and broke.
BROKE. "The reality is, I have no cash," Giuliani told reporters outside the federal courthouse in New York this week. "I don't have a credit card, I don't have a checking account," the former Mayor said after a hearing on why he was dragging his feet on paying two Georgia election workers.
STILL GOING. One problem for Giuliani is that he keeps making false claims about Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, whom he accused of bringing in suitcases of fake ballots for Joe Biden at a vote counting center in Atlanta. Giuliani was ordered to pay the women $150 million.
FOUR SEASONS LANDSCAPING. Guess who Giuliani claims still owes him $2 million in unpaid legal fees from the 2020 post-election fight? Donald Trump and the RNC. That's right. Giuliani went to bat for Trump and got hung out to dry.
RAP SHEET. A Tennessee father and son could miss some holidays as they were sentenced earlier this week to 54 months and 30 months in prison respectively for their actions on Jan. 6. Mark Waynick and his son Jerry were each convicted of 11 felonies, as they physically rushed and attacked police officers outside the Capitol. The father also swung a flagpole at police; while the son lobbed a 10-pound construction cone at cops.
MUSE OF HISTORY. November 28, 1940. The House welcomed a short-timer, as Democrat William Burney was sworn in to fill a vacant seat from Colorado. Burney served for only 6 weeks - as the same day he won his special election earlier that month, voters elected a Republican to fill the same seat in the next Congress. Burney served in World War II, worked as an insurance agent, and never ran for Congress again.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on Dec 3.
The Senate is back for votes on Dec 2.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
If you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a cup of coffee.
This might sound like a dumb question, but where does Congress get the money from to approve more disaster relief? Does it get printed, and added to tab this country already has?
Donald Trump has perfect credit, he pays no one.
Happy Thanksgiving Jamie