Trump seeks $14 billion in immediate, future Harvey relief funds

The Trump administration on Friday requested $7.85 billion in immediate relief aid for the victims of Hurricane Harvey as well as an additional $6.7 billion in Harvey clean-up funding to be added to the omnibus spending bill Congress must pass by the end of September to avert a government shutdown.

Some $7.4 billion of the emergency allocation will fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the remaining $450 million will pay for small business loans to facilitate economic recovery. This aid package is larger than the initial request President Trump was expected to make, which saw only $5.5 billion going to FEMA.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) both said Friday they are prepared to "act quickly" to approve Trump's funding requests.

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"Working closely with the president and the House of Representatives," McConnell said in a statement, "the Senate stands ready to act quickly to provide this much-needed assistance to those impacted communities, and support first responders and volunteers."