Two Republican senators set on providing relief to their constituents struggling in the wake of a catastrophic hurricane are demanding that Congress pass disaster aid before leaving town for the Christmas recess.
North Carolina Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd are urging congressional leadership to pass disaster aid for communities devastated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton before lawmakers are slated to leave town at the end of the week for the Christmas holiday. They are also threatening to hold up efforts to pass stopgap funding if disaster aid is not included in a larger spending package or voted on as a standalone bill, according to statements the two senators gave to the Daily Caller News Foundation on Thursday.
“The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina is staggering and incomprehensible,” Tillis, who does not support the stopgap funding bill in its current form, wrote in a statement to the DCNF. “Entire communities have been upended, with businesses, homes, and essential infrastructure completely destroyed. Helene victims in desperate need of assistance and the communities that had their infrastructure literally washed away can’t afford to wait any longer to start the long-term recovery process.”
“The recovery needs to start now, which is why I agree with President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance that Congress needs to include disaster aid in a Continuing Resolution or pass it as a standalone bill immediately.”
Tillis has also promised to block any CR if disaster relief is not incorporated in a stopgap funding package or aid for hurricane victims is not passed as a standalone bill, stating lawmakers “should be prepared to spend Christmas in the Capitol” if they try to leave town before passing disaster relief, in a post on X on Wednesday evening.
Budd also told the DCNF that he will not support any spending package that does not include disaster relief and will seek to hold up its passage.
“Congress should not leave Washington until we’ve passed disaster relief for Western North Carolina,” Budd told the DCNF in a statement. “I have made it clear since Hurricane Helene struck that my number one priority is getting every day Americans impacted by this disaster the help that they need. Meanwhile, backroom deals are holding disaster relief hostage for shameful handouts to special interests. I have long opposed continuing resolutions as they avoid tough decisions and are emblematic of business as usual in Washington.”
“But since others chose to leverage disaster relief for their pet projects, I won’t vote for, or consent to time agreements on, any package that doesn’t help Americans get out of the cold and rebuild their homes and lives,” Budd added.
Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, who is calling for a government shutdown and advocating for Congress to wait and pass a stopgap funding bill after Trump takes office on Jan. 20, told the DCNF that she would support passing disaster aid for victims of Hurricane Helene and Milton before Congress leaves town for the Christmas recess.
“It is critical to get disaster relief to communities that have been devastated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton,” Mace told the DCNF in a statement. “We should do this in the most appropriate way as a stand alone measure. We support passing a disaster relief package which provides relief to these communities in a fiscally responsible manner that includes offsets, and then adjourning the 118th Congress.”
The dead-on-arrival stopgap funding bill released by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson Tuesday night — which Trump ultimately tanked during a series of Truth Social posts Wednesday — included more than $100 billion in disaster aid in addition to an array of unrelated Democratic policy riders.
Though Trump demanded lawmakers kill the current version of the CR, passing disaster relief is a priority for the incoming Trump administration, according to a statement released by Trump and Vance on Wednesday.
“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” Trump and Vance wrote in a statement published on X on Wednesday. “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”
House leadership has yet to release another CR with government funding set to expire Friday night.
The vice president-elect notably visited Western North Carolina communities with Tillis and Budd to survey the wreckage caused by Hurricane Helene earlier this year.
“We will never forget you [Western North Carolina], and we will work hard in the coming months and years to help you rebuild,” Vance wrote on X on Dec. 6 following his visit.
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