Details surrounding the emergency spending bill are expected to be delayed and could be “delayed by one day” as the deadline to avoid A government shutdown looms.
Lawmakers were expected to share the text of an emergency spending bill to avert a government shutdown and address disaster relief on Sunday, but Fox News was told the text “may be delayed by one day.”
Both houses come And lawmakers in the Senate Negotiating how large a disaster aid package should be and whether it should be attached to a year-end federal funding bill is critical to avoiding a partial government shutdown over the holiday season.
This could pose a problem because government funding expires at 11:59:59 PM on Friday. Postponing that means the House may not be able to take up the bill until the end of the week.
GOP insurgents go to war over Biden's massive $98 billion disaster aid request
Damage from Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helen. (National Weather Service)
It's also worth noting that it doesn't take much for the Senate to slow things down if senators ask for time.
The House has a so-called “three-day rule” that requires text to be published for three days before debate and a vote. However, waiting until tomorrow means the House may not consider the bill until Thursday or Friday — the peak of the deadline.
Fox News was told there were no delays in government funding, as of mid-March. Or disaster package for Hurricanes Helen and Milton, wildfires on Maui, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, and hurricanes in the Midwest, but there is a problem with agricultural supplies “and other things important to leaders on both sides.”
Biden asks Congress for $98 billion in funding for Helen and Milton disaster relief
President Biden wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson about disaster aid after Helen and Milton. (Getty Images)
One source declined to answer when Fox was asked whether there was an attempt to insert last-minute provisions into the overall measure related to Syria or drones.
In early October, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital that Helen was likely “one of the… The most expensive storms “that the country has ever encountered.”
The Biden administration has requested more than $100 billion in funding for disaster aid in the wake of Hurricanes Helen and Milton.
The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus is calling on Republican leaders to reject President Biden's request for disaster aid.
President Biden, accompanied by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (R), provides an update on the government's response to Hurricanes Milton and Helen in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on October 11, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
The group is calling for a watered-down package covering what is “absolutely essential”, to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere.
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“Congress should not pass an additional $100 billion disaster funding bill — which Democrats will use to advance their own unrelated priorities — in the final days of Democratic control in Washington immediately before Republicans take control of the White House and both chambers.” Read the statement of the Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives.
“The House should consider only what is absolutely necessary right now to provide critical relief to hurricane victims and farmers, pay for it with offsets from wasteful spending elsewhere in government, and then wait until President Trump takes office to better manage disaster relief. “
If new spending is not approved by appropriations bills or a stopgap measure, a partial government shutdown could occur before Christmas.
Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Stephenie Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Tips and story ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
