Biden asks Congress for about $100 billion in disaster relief funding
President Biden asked Congress on Monday for more than $98 billion in emergency funding to help cover the costs of recent natural disasters, including Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
The majority of the money would go toward the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Agriculture Department, but there are requests for 16 agencies, including Housing and Urban Development and the Transportation Department to help repair housing and rebuild infrastructure.
Congress last passed disaster funding two years ago. Since then, the two hurricanes tore through the southeast, killing more than 200 people and causing millions of dollars of damage,
Shalanda Young, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told reporters that the Biden administration continues to provide federal support after the devastating fires in Maui, tornadoes across the Midwest and the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
There were also severe storms in Alaska, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Mexico, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, Young said. “It is absolutely critical that these communities know that their government has not forgotten them.”
The largest chunk of funding — about $40 billion — would be for FEMA’s disaster relief fund, so that it has enough money to last through the coming year. The White House is also requesting $24 billion for the USDA to help farmers hit by disasters, and for school lunch programs and food banks in affected regions.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters that 2024 has been “a year of records.” In 2024, there have been 172 disaster declarations, she said, compared to 113 the previous year.
“We saw the second-busiest spring tornado season ever recorded,” she said. “And we’ve seen, overall, a 50% increase in disaster activity.”
2 private lunar landers head toward the moon in a roundabout journey
In a two-for-one moonshot, SpaceX launched a pair of lunar landers Wednesday for U.S. and Japanese companies looking to jumpstart business on Earth's dusty sidekick.
Biden moves to lift state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba
President Biden notified Congress of his intent to lift the U.S. label of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism as part of a deal aided by the Catholic Church to free political prisoners on the island.
Dozens of survivors and dead pulled from abandoned South African mine
The mine has been the scene of a tense standoff between police and miners since authorities launched an operation to force the miners out by cutting off food and water from the surface.
South Korean law enforcement officers detain impeached President Yoon
Yoon was brought into custody about three hours after hundreds of law enforcement officers entered the residential compound in their second attempt to detain him over his imposition of martial law last month.
SEC sues Elon Musk, says he didn’t disclose Twitter ownership on time before purchase
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says Musk failed to disclose his ownership of Twitter stock in a timely manner before buying the site and underpaid by $150 million for shares he bought.
No such thing as a free toilet: Starbucks reverses open bathroom policy
The new guideline is a reversal of a 2018 open-door policy that was implemented after two Black men, who had not ordered anything, were arrested at a Philadelphia store.
