Mayorkas calls on Congress to fund FEMA disaster relief, warning ‘hurricane season is not over’
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday said that while FEMA has enough resources to address the "immediate" needs of victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, hurricane season isn’t over and called on Congress to fund the agency’s disaster relief fund for future storms.
Mayorkas addressed recent claims about FEMA’s resources during an appearance on CBS’ "Face the Nation" as seven weeks of hurricane season remain.
"FEMA has the money to address the immediate needs of individuals impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton," Mayorkas said. "But we need Congress to act swiftly to fund FEMA and specifically its disaster relief fund because hurricane season is not over."
Criticism of the agency was fueled when Mayorkas said earlier this month that FEMA does "not have the funds to make it through the season," although he said it did have enough for "immediate needs." The administration has pushed for Congress to return and pass a spending bill to provide additional funding for the hurricane season.
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"We have to ensure that individuals can recover from these extreme disasters, such as rebuilding their homes, repairing damage and the like," Mayorkas said Sunday. "And so we need Congress to act swiftly to fund what should be a nonpartisan, apolitical phenomenon, and that is providing relief to all individuals with respect to the impacts of these extreme weather events."
Mayorkas also addressed criticism about the agency’s response in the aftermath of the storms.
"FEMA has not been slow at all," he said. "It already has distributed more than $470 million in relief to individuals impacted by Hurricane Helene. I take great pride, and this nation should take great pride in the extraordinary work of our FEMA personnel and all first responders."
Authorities in North Carolina on Sunday confirmed at least 93 storm-related fatalities from Hurricane Helene but still could not account for the number of those who remain missing or unaccounted for. Additional deaths across Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee brought the toll to more than 220.
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday evening. At least 10 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of residents remain without power.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.