(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden on Friday asked Congress to speed authorization of about $1.6 billion for the Small Business Administration so it can properly respond to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene and other disasters.
The SBA offers low-interest loans to businesses affected by disasters, but the president said the agency “will run out of funding in a matter of weeks and well before the Congress is planning to reconvene.”
Biden’s letter to Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate did not include the specific dollar request, which was described by a senior administration official on the condition of anonymity.
Yet the White House appeared optimistic that lawmakers would authorize that additional amount through a fast-track process while most of Congress is away from Washington for the pre-election recess.
The president added that while the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund has enough resources now, “the fund does face a shortfall at the end of the year.”
“I also urge that after the Congress comes back into session on Nov. 12th, you will act with all appropriate speed and provide comprehensive disaster relief,” Biden said in the letter.
Biden’s appeal underscores the scale of Hurricane Helene, which spread ruin as it moved from Florida’s Big Bend into Georgia, South Carolina and far inland in North Carolina. Parts of Virginia and Tennessee were also affected by the storm that killed more than 200 people.
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Biden and top aides have said they ultimately expect to ask for billions of dollars for efforts to rebuild after Helene.
The offices of House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Friday night.
While disaster aid typically draws support from both parties, funding has repeatedly become ensnarled in other partisan battles in recent years. The larger aid package will likely be negotiated alongside an extension of current government funding, which expires on Dec. 20.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly assailed Biden over the response to the storm, and claimed that federal disaster funding had been stolen by those in the country illegally.
The Republican presidential nominee appeared to be conflating FEMA’s disaster relief fund – which cannot be used for other purposes — with a separate program, established by Congress in 2022, when the agency was asked to help communities experiencing an influx of migrants.
At a rally Friday in North Carolina earlier Friday, Trump called the response “the worst job on a hurricane that any administration has ever done” and repeated his claim that the agency was missing money.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a memo distributed to reporters earlier Friday that Republicans were spreading “bald-faced lies” about the response and “using Hurricane Helene to lie and divide us.”
--With assistance from John Harney.
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