Trump signs relief package for Harvey
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed a $15 billion hurricane relief package passed by Congress on Friday, one that also raises the debt ceiling and avoids a looming shutdown by funding government into early December.
Hours earlier, the House of Representatives voted 316 to 90 to approve the package, which was the result of an agreement struck between Trump and congressional Democrats in a hurried effort to free up emergency funding after Hurricane Harvey swamped Texas.
The Senate easily passed the bill on Thursday, 80 to 17.
Trump signed the measure “providing much needed support for storm survivors,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted.
The bill extends US borrowing authority and funds the federal government until December 8, and frees up emergency relief funding just as Florida braces for a direct hit from Hurricane Irma.
Some Republican conservatives had strongly objected to the deal because they wanted a standalone hurricane relief bill unconnected to efforts to raise the federal borrowing limit and keep the government open.
All 90 House members against the measure were Republicans, including four from Texas.
“Disaster assistance should be considered on its own -- not to advance another agenda,” Texas Republican Mac Thornberry said after voting against the package.
Congress’s immediate focus was funneling sufficient funding to government authorities like the Federal Emergency Management Administration, which has been helping victims of Hurricane Harvey that recently pummeled Texas, and is preparing for devastation in Florida.