Outrage as Mike Johnson insists further hurricane relief 'can wait' until Congress is back from recess

WASHINGTON, DC: House Speaker Mike Johnson sparked outrage as he dismissed the idea of Congress returning from recess to pass additional funding for hurricane victims.

Despite the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, the Republican insisted that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has enough resources for now.

Mike Johnson claims FEMA has only distributed two percent of the allocated funds

In an interview on CBS' 'Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan' on Sunday, October 13, Mike Johnson addressed the push from both sides of the aisle to reconvene Congress and allocate more funds.

He said, "It can wait because remember the day before Hurricane Helene made landfall and went up through the states and wound up in Senator Tillis's state of North Carolina, Congress appropriated $20 billion additional to FEMA so that they would have the necessary resources to address immediate needs."

"We put that into the coffers. I just checked as of this morning, less than two percent of that has actually been distributed," remarked Johnson.

He went on to criticize FEMA's handling of the situation, claiming that the agency has been slow to act.

"We need FEMA to do its job. Those funds, that money, is provided so that storm victims can have the immediate necessities met. And then what happens after every storm is that the states have to asses and calculate the actual needs, and they submit to Congress that request," expressed the House speaker. 

He added, "As soon as that is done, Congress will meet and in bipartisan fashion we will address those needs. We will provide the additional resources. It would be premature to call back everyone now because these storms are so large in their scope and magnitude that it’s going to take a little bit of time to make those calculations." 

Margaret Brennan challenges Mike Johnson's claims about FEMA having enough funds

Margaret Brennan didn’t let Mike Johnson’s claims slide, bringing up a point from FEMA’s director that contradicted his statement. She noted that around $9 billion from the emergency package had already been used.

"They have obligated some funds. But they have only distributed two percent. The rescue and recovery efforts are still going on and then we address the rest of it. FEMA was slow to respond," responded the Republican. 

He claimed, "They did not do the job that we all hope and expect that they will do, and there’s going to be a lot of assessment about that in the days ahead." 

It's worth noting that Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas initially said that FEMA might run out of money to manage the entire hurricane season, only to walk back this claim shortly afterward.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump and his allies have pushed falsities about funds for hurricane relief being diverted to migrant care, as per the Daily Beast.

That said, Johnson argued that Congress must follow due diligence when designating disaster relief funds.

"Congress cannot meet and just send money on a guess or an estimate of what the damages are," explained the House speaker. 

He further noted, "The way supplemental disaster funding is provided is that the states send in their actual needs. It’s assessed by Congress and then handed out that way. They have tens of billions of dollars that were already sent to FEMA one day before Helene made landfall."

"They have plenty of resources. In fact, the administration, Secretary Mayorkas said himself… he said just a few days ago on his telecast in the media that they have what they need right now," stated Johnson. 

Internet slams Mike Johnson over his remarks on hurricane relief

While Mike Johnson stuck to his guns, his decision to reject calls for Congress to return to pass more funding bills for hurricane victims sparked backlash on social media platforms.

One wrote, "HS Johnson thinks that not calling the house back to session after a major disaster with another major hurricane due to make landfall in a couple of days is going to improve RS chances of winning the election, he is sorely mistaken. #GetBackToWork." 

Another expressed, "He’s a thoughts and prayer kind of guy," while a person stated, "He's just there, never doing much of anything...just there." 

"Well if Hurricane Milton blows a leaf off one of the trees at Mar-a-Lago, Mendacious Mike will immediately convene Congress to pass the hurricane relief bill under Trump’s orders," read a comment.

Someone else chimed in "Mike Johnson's hold on the House is so tenuous that he doesn't want to interrupt their vacation. These are people who don't take their jobs seriously. These are people who would hang their constituents out to dry rather than do some work." 

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