Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called on the Senate Tuesday to pass a disaster aid package before the Memorial Day recess.
“We need to get this done,” McConnell said at a press conference. “We need to pass it out of the Senate before the Memorial Day recess. That is my hope — that Sen.
Shelby, Sen. Leahy, the administration and others will be able to come together to deal with this disaster like we have others. There’s no excuse to politicize this situation.”Negotiations around disaster aid have stalled in recent weeks over how much money to give to Puerto Rico, stemming from President Donald Trump’s comments to Senate Republicans that the island was getting too much disaster aid funding. The island was hit by two hurricanes in 2017.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont appeared optimistic last week that they were nearing a deal to unlock more than $17 billion in assistance to communities hit by hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and extreme flooding.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) blamed Trump Tuesday for the delay in reaching a disaster deal.
“It was all on the road to being solved when President Trump came in and said ‘don’t give aid to Puerto Rico’ and our Republican friends bowed down,” he said. “Stop the politics, treat everyone equally and the bill will pass like a hot knife through butter.”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine