Johnson: Congress coming back early for hurricane relief would be ‘premature’

Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Congress will “do whatever is necessary to cover the needs of the people” after Hurricane Helene and Milton, but that it would be “premature” to come back to Washington now before assessing how much disaster relief is needed.

“What happens after every storm is that the states have to assess and calculate the actual needs, and then they submit to Congress that request,” Johnson said during an interview with host Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “As soon as that is done, Congress will meet and in bipartisan fashion, we will address those needs. We'll provide the additional resources.”

“But it would be premature to call everyone back now, because these storms are so large in their scope and magnitude, it's going to take a little bit of time to make those calculations,” the Louisiana Republican added.

Johnson said that money has already been allocated to storm victims to meet their immediate needs and that as of this morning, two percent of those funds had been distributed. But he said as for Congress passing additional resources to rebuild and refund the area, that will first require more calculations. He added that Congress approved $20 billion to FEMA the day before Helene hit.

Congress is currently not scheduled to be back in session until after the election.

Later on the same program, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said that Congress will need to come back to fund FEMA but currently there is enough money for individuals impacted by the hurricanes. But he encouraged Congress to return, especially since more storms could be on the way.

"FEMA has the money to address the immediate needs of individuals impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, but we need Congress to act swiftly to fund FEMA and specifically its Disaster Relief Fund, because hurricane season is not over,” Mayorkas said.

Johnson also said the Biden administration needs to act quicker in getting the current funds to hurricane victims.

"People are hurting and I've been on the ground in the most affected disaster areas, Florida, North Carolina, they really need the help," Johnson said.

Mayorkas pushed back on claims of delays, saying the Biden administration has already distributed over $470 million in relief to hurricane victims even as it tries to determine who needs help.

“Assessing the damage from Hurricane Milton, which is of historic strength, and it also led to approximately 27 different tornadoes, so we don't know the impact,” Mayorkas said. “We don't know what's coming tomorrow. Whether it's another hurricane, a tornado, a fire, an earthquake."

He added, “We have to be ready, and it is not good government to be dependent on a day-to-day existence as opposed to appropriate planning.”