Biden warns congressional leaders in new letter that some disaster funding will run out before election

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, which has devastated multiple states along the Eastern seaboard, President Joe Biden is urging lawmakers to replenish some critical disaster relief programs that have nearly run out of money.

In a letter sent to congressional leaders late Friday and first obtained by CNN, Biden said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense could require additional funding in the future, though they have enough money to meet the hurricane recovery’s immediate needs. “They are performing critical life-saving and life-sustaining missions and will continue to do so within present funding levels,” the president wrote.

But Biden sounded another alarm on funding channeled through the Small Business Administration aimed at helping small business owners and homeowners recoup property and equipment, a loan program that he said “will run out of funding in a matter of weeks and well before the Congress is planning to reconvene.”

The SBA’s disaster relief loan program lends up to $2 million to businesses and $500,000 to homeowners to cover costs of lost or destroyed property through the disaster relief loan program. In extreme disasters, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program helps businesses make payroll and keep their operations running.

Administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information, said the program needs $1.6 billion in additional funding to meet the needs of the roughly 3,000 new applications it’s receiving per day for damage sustained during Hurricane Helene.

The White House in June requested $4 billion in disaster relief funds to cover expenses associated with the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, the continued recovery after Maui’s wildfires, and tornados that ravaged the Midwest.

A short-term funding deal that would extend the government’s operations through December did not include that request, leading the White House to warn that the low funding levels could lead to “effectively ceasing operations” for the disaster loan program this fall.

Biden, during visits to survey damage in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida this week, told reporters that additional funding “can’t wait… people need help now.”

In an interview with Fox News, House Speaker Mike Johnson said lawmakers would assess the post-Helene needs in full after the election. Biden, in his letter, agreed that a comprehensive disaster relief package would be necessary when Congress returns on November 12 – but said action on individual programs could be needed before then.

“It is critical that Congress ensures that no critical disaster programs, such as the SBA disaster loan program, run out of funding during the Congressional Recess period,” he wrote.

Congress is on recess for the month of October ahead of the election as lawmakers campaign in their home districts. While some lawmakers have called on Congress to return if necessary –  including Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina – there are currently no plans for Congress to reconvene.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana in 2005, Congress cut short its summer recess, with a few members returning to the floor to shepherd an initial tranche of $10.5 billion in aid, which passed without objection in the House and Senate. Such a move could be possible with many members away from Washington, if there was no opposition. In the Senate, any single member could block it from advancing swiftly.