The hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus came out against “unpaid” disaster aid legislation in an official statement on Wednesday, urging “not one more cent to the Biden administration.”
In the statement on Wednesday evening, the caucus urged their colleagues against passing “a whopping $100 billion unpaid disaster supplemental funding bill,” accusing Democrats of using the measure “to cement their own unrelated priorities.”
“The House should consider only what is absolutely necessary right now to provide critical relief to hurricane victims and farmers, and pay for it with offsets from wasteful spending elsewhere in the government, then wait for President Trump to take office to better manage disaster relief.”
The statement comes after members of the caucus said they spoke to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) this week about the need for offsets for disaster relief.
“We’ve got a plethora of things to cut, and so he listened. We’ll see what he does,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the caucus, said of the recent meeting with Johnson, adding, “he got a world of thoughts on [doing] pay for. Now’s the time.”
“Seventy-six million people voted for Trump,” Norman said on Wednesday ahead of the caucus’ official statement. “The message is clear. We don’t do it now, we’re not gonna do it.”
Members on both sides have been working in recent weeks to craft bipartisan emergency legislation to provide disaster relief in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Bipartisan talks started to pick up last month after the Biden administration asked Congress for nearly $100 billion in disaster aid as officials warned of dwindling funds, as well as additional funding recently.
While some prominent Republicans have said a “robust” response is needed, negotiators on both sides said this week that talks remain ongoing to settle on a topline.
“My friends on the other side of the aisle, and I don’t agree on a lot of things, but we do agree when Americans are in a tough spot, the federal government has a responsibility to help,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said on Tuesday.
“So, we’re just trying to figure out how to use what’s been proposed appropriately,” Cole said. “If we can save money in doing that, that’s great, but the number one job here is to make sure that the Carolinas and Georgia and Florida and the Southeast in general, and other places that haven’t been taken care of.”
Lawmakers expect any deal on a disaster aid supplemental bill to be attached to a stopgap funding plan Congress is angling to pass in the coming weeks to avert a government shutdown before Christmas.
