U.S Army soldiers offload bottled water from a helicopter during recovery efforts four weeks after Hurricane Maria struck on Oct. 18 in Utuado, Puerto Rico. | Mario Tama/Getty Images White House seeks $44 billion in third disaster request

The White House sent its third disaster request to Congress on Friday, asking for $44 billion to aid recovery from this summer’s deadly trio of hurricanes.

If the funding package is approved, Congress will have kicked in nearly $100 billion in extra money this year to help storm-ravaged communities in places like Texas, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida.


Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) welcomed the administration's move, adding in a statement, "The House will review the request and work with the administration and members from affected states to help the victims get the resources they need to recover and rebuild."

Other lawmakers, however, voiced strong complaints that the package fell short of expectations.

The request calls for $25.2 billion for disaster programs run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration, as well as $4.6 billion to rehab damaged federal facilities and other agency recovery efforts.

Another $1 billion would go toward emergency agricultural assistance, $1.2 billion would be used for an education recovery fund and $12 billion would be spent on a new flood mitigation program run by the Community Development Block Grant.

The Trump administration — still sizing up damage and rebuilding costs in some areas — is expected to ask for even more disaster cash in the months to come.

Indeed, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico less than 60 days ago — the usual threshold for determining long-term recovery needs.

While overall estimates are largely settled for damage wrought by hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the latest request falls short of what local officials had sought for their recovery. Texas had asked for $61 billion, Puerto Rico wanted $96 billion and the U.S. Virgin Islands requested nearly $7 billion.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, one of the most vocal advocates for funding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, said late Thursday that the White House’s request was “wholly inadequate.”

Rep. Nita Lowey, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement that the request “does not come close to what local officials say is needed.”

Unlike the $52 billion Congress already approved in two installments this year, the administration has asked that at least some of the additional funding be offset by spending cuts.

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OMB Director Mick Mulvaney urged congressional leaders in a letter last month to avoid appropriating more “emergency” dollars that don’t count toward Congress’ spending limits.

“As we move toward the longer-term issue of rebuilding the impacted areas of our Nation,” Mulvaney wrote, “we believe it would be appropriate that the Congress consider reducing spending elsewhere.”

The White House proposed Friday that Congress find $59 billion in offsets to dozens of federal programs like rural business grants and conservation efforts.

Congressional fiscal hawks have so far been divided on the question of whether to demand offsets for disaster aid. While Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C.) has pushed leaders to find ways to pay for the extra spending, Freedom Caucus chief Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said last month that “emergency funding and having an offset with that is not a sustainable position.”

Both the House and Senate are expected to take up the new aid request next month, possibly as part of a year-end spending deal. One GOP aide said Friday lawmakers could approve the disaster package separately, before a December agreement to fund the government.

Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.