Republican lawmaker adds more delay on disaster relief
WASHINGTON — A Republican lawmaker held up a long-stalled disaster relief deal Friday that includes billions for California wildfire victims, meaning more than a week of further delays.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, objected to moving the $19.1 billion package — which easily passed the Senate on Thursday — during a brief session of the House. That all but assures that disaster victims in California and several other states and U.S. territories who have waited months for Congress to come together on a package will probably have to wait until the first week of June for lawmakers to return from a Memorial Day recess.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Democrats might try again next week during another brief House session, which would put Republicans on the spot to object again.
The Senate bill includes up to $12.6 billion that people and entities affected by California
wildfires in 2017 and 2018 would be eligible for, according to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalif.
Roy was able to single-handedly hold up the bill because the Senate was unable to reach its deal before Thursday afternoon, passing it after the House had adjourned for the recess and lawmakers had left town. House procedure does allow for a bill to pass without lawmakers present to vote, but it must be unanimous. A single objection, like Roy’s, can stymie the effort.
Roy, a former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, cited three reasons for his objection. First, that the House was not present to vote on such a large package. Second, that the bill does not include any money for the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, which has been inundated by an influx of mainly asylum-seeking migrants. Third, the $19 billion bill has no stated funding source.
The Senate passed the deal 85-8 on Thursday after it had been held up for months, largely because of President Trump’s objection to more money to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed an estimated 3,000 people in 2017.
Trump finally relented, and the deal struck Thursday included nearly $1 billion for Puerto Rico. The package had been further delayed by an effort to attach money to help the situation at the border, including overcrowding at migrant facilities, but it ended up being too controversial and was cast aside.
Because the Senate version differs slightly from a previous House bill, the House will have to pass it to send it to Trump’s desk for a signature.
Trump said Thursday that he supported the deal.
“We’re going to get the immigration money later, according to everybody,” Trump said. “I have to take care of my farmers with the disaster relief. If I didn’t do that — really it’s a long time in coming. … I didn’t want to hold that up any longer, so the answer is I totally support it.”
The House has already passed two disaster relief bills this year, one in January and another earlier this month, and the similar Senate bill is virtually assured passage when lawmakers return.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Republicans for holding up the bill.
“House Republicans’ last-minute sabotage of an overwhelmingly bipartisan disaster relief bill is an act of staggering political cynicism. Countless American families hit by devastating natural disasters across the country will now be denied the relief they urgently need,” the San Francisco Democrat said in a statement.
“Every House Republican needs to answer to the American people why they are standing in the way of urgently needed disaster relief for families struggling to heal and recover.” Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan