Leaders of both parties are making a last-gasp push to distribute disaster aid before Memorial Day. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images congress GOP proposes more Puerto Rico aid in latest offer to Democrats

Congressional Republicans on Thursday floated a new disaster aid proposal to Democrats to break the logjam over Puerto Rico, but it is unlikely to end the bitter, monthslong stalemate that has frustrated both parties, according to multiple aides.

The Republicans’ latest funding offer would add billions of dollars in funding under the Senate’s disaster-aid bill, which would dole out badly needed cash to states ravaged by wildfires, hurricanes and severe flooding. It includes hundreds of millions more for Puerto Rico, but falls short of resolving the key sticking point, which has pitted Democrats against President Donald Trump since last year.


“It is a more realistic offer than last time, but that’s not saying much,” one Democratic aide said.

Leaders of both parties are making a last-gasp push to distribute the money before Memorial Day as desperation grows in a half-dozen states from Iowa to California. But they keep running into hurdles, including from the president himself.

Trump was in Florida on Wednesday night promising to swiftly deliver disaster aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael last October. But he continues to dig in against new funding for Puerto Rico, incorrectly claiming at an impromptu news conference on Thursday that the territory had already secured $91 billion in aid for a massive hurricane with a death toll of 3,000 people.

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The bill has also been held up by a push from the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), as he looks to free up more money for harbor maintenance funds for his home state.

House Democrats are slated to vote Friday on their own disaster package, which includes long-delayed money for wildfire-ravaged parts of California, as well as swaths of the South — like Florida, Georgia and Alabama — that had been hit by hurricanes last summer.

But on Thursday evening Trump sent a warning to GOP lawmakers.

“House Republicans should not vote for the BAD DEMOCRAT Disaster Supplemental Bill which hurts our States, Farmers & Border Security,” the president wrote on Twitter . “Up for vote tomorrow. We want to do much better than this. All sides keep working and send a good BILL for immediate signing!”

House and Senate leaders are trying to work out the disaster-aid package separately from the White House’s newest emergency funding request, which seeks $4.5 billion for the mounting humanitarian crisis at the border.

Some top Republicans, including some officials at the White House, had privately pushed to combine the two emergency aid requests. But Democrats have so far resisted the idea of adding any funding for the Department of Homeland Security to an already politically fraught package.

Spending leaders in both parties have said they are making progress after a weekend negotiating session that yielded largely no progress.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Thursday that he was feeling “a little bit better” about talks.

The wildfire and hurricane disaster package — as well as the separate border aid package — are seen as key tests for how the House Democratic leaders will work with Senate Republican to avoid a slew of fiscal battles later this year. That includes the annual funding deadline on Sept. 30, as well as fights over the debt ceiling and spending cuts.

Caitlin Emma and Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.