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Congress unveils funding deal with more than $100 billion in disaster aid

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Congress unveils funding deal with more than $100 billion in disaster aid
News

News

Congress unveils funding deal with more than $100 billion in disaster aid

2024-12-18 10:46 Last Updated At:10:50

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders have unveiled a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government funded through March 14 and provide more than $100 billion in emergency aid to help states and local communities recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters.

The measure would prevent a partial government shutdown set to begin after midnight Friday. It would kick final decisions on this budget year's spending levels to a new Republican-led Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. The continuing resolution generally continues current spending levels for agencies.

Passage of the measure is one of the final actions that lawmakers will consider this week before adjourning for the holidays and making way for the next Congress. It's the second short-term funding measure the lawmakers have taken up this fall as they struggled to pass the dozen annual appropriations bills before the new fiscal year began Oct. 1, as they typically do.

The bill will provide $100.4 billion in disaster relief, with an additional $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers struggling with low commodity prices and high input costs.

“We have to be able to help those who are in these dire straits,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters.

Net farm income is projected to decline 4.1% this year after falling 19.4% the year before from the record highs reached in 2022. Johnson indicated more farm aid could be delivered in the next Congress, saying “we can't do all it right now.”

“Congress is doing the best it can under difficult circumstances, and I think it will be a big boost for the industry,” Johnson said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the agreement was “free of cuts and poison pills,” and would provide money for Democratic priorities like child care, workforce training and job placement.

“With this agreement, we are now on our way to avoiding a government shutdown," Schumer said.

Rep. Glenn Thompson, the Republican chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said he was hoping for more economic relief for farmers, but “it’s a great start.”

“I think it’s going to send the right signal to the markets that most farmers and ranchers are going to be able to get eligible for the credit they need to borrow in order to plant a crop or raise a herd,” Thompson said.

President Joe Biden has sought about $114 billion in disaster aid, submitting a $99 billion request in November, telling lawmakers the funding was “urgently needed.” The administration subsequently updated its request to include funding to repair federal facilities damaged due to natural disasters.

The largest share of the money, about $29 billion, will go to the main disaster relief fund at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The fund helps with debris removal, repairing public infrastructure and providing financial assistance to survivors. About $21 billion goes to help farmers who have experienced crop or livestock losses.

Another $8 billion will go to help rebuild and repair highways and bridges in more than 40 states and territories. And some $12 billion would go toward helping communities recover through block grants administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. About $2.2 billion would go to low-interest loans for businesses, nonprofits and homeowners trying to rebuild after a disaster.

“While this is not the legislation I would have written on my own, it is a strong, bipartisan package that provides the resources communities urgently need to recover,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Congress is expected to pass the measure just before another shutdown deadline. House Republicans generally give lawmakers 72 hours to review text of the legislation, which would push a vote on final passage to Friday if they follow through on that rule. The Senate is not known for acting speedily, but many lawmakers are anxious to adjourn for the year and make way for the next Congress.

Since the bill is the last must-pass legislation of the current Congress, lawmakers have worked to get certain priorities included. On the health care front, the legislation seeks to extend coverage of telehealth appointments for Medicare enrollees and rein in how much money pharmacy benefits managers — the companies that negotiate how and what drugs are covered by insurance plans — make off those deals.

The bill also includes provisions focused on countering China, including expanding on a Biden executive order that seeks to restrict investments into countries that pose a national security threat to the United States. Blocking China’s high-tech ambitions is one of the few issues that enjoys broad support in Washington from both Republicans and Democrats.

There's also a provision to transfer the land that is the site of the old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia, which could potentially lead to a new stadium for the Washington Commanders.

The legislation also provides full federal funding to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed when struck by a cargo ship that reported losing power just before the crash. Federal taxpayers will be reimbursed through proceeds from insurance payments and litigation.

Associated Press staff writers Stephen Groves and Amanda Seitz contributed to this report.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives for a closed-door strategy session with fellow Republicans as they work on a final version of a spending bill before federal agencies run out of money at midnight on Friday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives for a closed-door strategy session with fellow Republicans as they work on a final version of a spending bill before federal agencies run out of money at midnight on Friday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., pauses as he enters a closed-door strategy session with fellow Republicans as they work on a final version of a spending bill before federal agencies run out of money at midnight on Friday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., pauses as he enters a closed-door strategy session with fellow Republicans as they work on a final version of a spending bill before federal agencies run out of money at midnight on Friday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee voted in secret to release the long-awaited ethics report into ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz, raising the possibility that the allegations against the Florida Republican who was President-elect Donald Trump's first choice for attorney general could be made public in the coming days.

The decision by the bipartisan committee was made earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the vote who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday. CNN first reported the vote.

It's a stunning turnaround for the often secretive panel of five Republicans and five Democrats. Just last month, members voted along party lines to not release the findings of their nearly four-year investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct with minors and use of illicit drugs while Gaetz was in office.

Democrats had pressed to make the report public even though Gaetz was no longer in Congress and had withdrawn as Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department. A vote on the House floor this month to force the report's release failed; all but one Republican voted against it.

Gaetz lashed out Wedneday on social media against the latest development, again denying any wrongdoing. He criticized the committee for its move after he had left Congress, saying he would have “no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”

“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life,” Gaetz posted on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. “I live a different life now.”

Most Republicans have argued that any congressional investigation into Gaetz ended when he resigned from the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also requested that the committee not publish its report, saying it would be a terrible precedent.

While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare.

Gaetz has defended the claims against him, noting that the Justice Department’s separate investigation against him into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls ended last year without federal charges.

Onetime political ally Joel Greenberg, a fellow Republican who served as the tax collector in Florida’s Seminole County, admitted as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in 2021 that he paid women and an underage girl to have sex with him and other men. The men were not identified in court documents when he pleaded guilty. Greenberg was sentenced in late 2022 to 11 years in prison.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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