But on Wednesday, when the White House freed up nearly $16 billion in relief funding that Congress had approved in late 2017, it also severely restricted how that money could be spent. That includes blocking spending on the island’s electrical grid, suspending its $15-an-hour minimum wage for federally funded relief work and requiring budget plans to be submitted to Puerto Rico’s federally mandated fiscal control board.

“The Trump administration has finally showed signs of relenting in its attempts to illegally withhold vital aid to Puerto Rico, and must provide the rest of the assistance this Congress has already enacted for the island,” said Representative Nita M. Lowey of New York, the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee. “However, there are still urgent unmet needs on the island that necessitate additional relief.”

Securing congressional approval for disaster aid and getting it spent have become fraught during the Trump administration. The president has repeatedly clashed with the island’s leadership and balked at sending funds. Once the federal money has been approved, his administration has slow-walked its distribution.

This time, lawmakers included language that would allow Puerto Rican officials to combine the new money with previously allocated funds that have yet to be spent. The package would also set deadlines for the administration to complete grant agreements and establish procedural steps to spend the money.

In the months after the hurricanes, much of the funding from federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, went toward emergency work, like removing debris, providing tarps for leaking roofs and restoring power to the island.