Fox's first appearance: A group of senators led by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) says the Federal Emergency Management Agency's “tangles” with the southern border limit its effectiveness in responding to emergencies. They are warning that this is a possibility — just as the Biden administration is suppressing the claims. Disaster relief and immigrant resettlement are linked.
“FEMA’s continued involvement in DHS efforts to respond to border crises could impact its preparedness and emergency response missions,” the Republican lawmakers wrote. “Instead of allowing FEMA to respond to hurricanes and other emergencies, it has been drawn into the task of border crisis.”
In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, the lawmakers expressed concern “about the global impact of the ongoing border crisis.” [FEMA’s] They cited remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week, warning that FEMA “doesn't have the money to get us through the season,” and calling for a special legislative session to consider additional funding in the wake of the devastation caused. He cited his request for Congress to convene. Due to Hurricane Helen.
FEMA says it has the funds needed for 'immediate response and recovery'
A rescue team rows on the Swannanoa River on Sunday, September 29, 2024. The remnants of Hurricane Helen caused widespread flooding, downed trees, and power outages across western North Carolina. (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Other members of Congress included in the letter include Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), and Sen. Roger Marshall. (Republican, Kansas) is also included. Mr. Lankford is also the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Control.
Mayorkas also said he and FEMA have enough funding to meet “immediate needs,” but Mayorkas said the current funding provided by the continuing resolution does not provide stability.
“We have immediate needs right now. We have funding under continuing resolutions, but it's not a steady source, so to speak,” he said. “This is a multi-billion dollar, multi-year recovery.”
Amid these comments, many conservative lawmakers and officials said FEMA is spending about $650 million in grants to nonprofits and local governments aimed at resettling and assisting immigrants who come across the southern border. He points out that he has spent $1,000. Funding for the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) is appropriated by Congress and requires FEMA to use funds transferred from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This is just a fraction of FEMA's $30 billion-plus budget.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House are pushing back against claims linking a program called the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) to FEMA's alleged funding shortfalls.
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a memo Friday that “no disaster relief funds are being used to support migrant housing or services. Absolutely. Absolutely.” “In fact, funding for community assistance to migrants has been appropriated by Congress directly to CBP and is solely administered by FEMA. This funding has no connection to FEMA's response or recovery efforts.”
Fox Corporation begins donation drive for American Red Cross Hurricane Helen relief efforts
“These claims are completely false,” a DHS spokesperson told FOX News Digital. “As Secretary Mayorkas stated, FEMA has the resources necessary to meet the immediate needs associated with Hurricane Helen and other disasters.The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) is authorized and funded by Congress. It is a completely separate and allocated grant program provided and is not authorized by Congress in any way connected to FEMA's disaster authorities or funding sources.
But the letter from the senators goes beyond separating the funds and points to the potential for broader pressures on FEMA from the crisis. They point out that FEMA mobilization to address the surge in unaccompanied minors who crossed the southern border in March 2021, when the crisis began.
WASHINGTON – JANUARY 23: Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) speaks to reporters as he arrives at the U.S. Capitol to vote on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
They also cited a Congressional briefing in which it was revealed that, ahead of the expiration of the Title 42 public health order, the administration had placed a senior FEMA official as a senior coordinator to respond to a potential infection surge at the border. There is.
They also said they had called for continued funding for FEMA's border-related operations in their budget request to Congress, saying, “If the administration had instead used the agency to patrol the border, FEMA “Efforts could have been even more limited.”
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Lawmakers also asked how many full-time employees from FEMA were transferred to border-related duties or joined volunteer forces, how much FEMA funding was reprogrammed to border-related duties, and the impact. We are asking whether any kind of evaluation has been carried out. About FEMA's efforts at the border. Fox contacted the White House, DHS and FEMA.
The announcement comes as the impact of the border crisis remains a top issue ahead of the November election. Republicans have accused the Biden administration of fueling the border crisis with its “open borders” policy and ending Trump-era policies. The Biden administration has accused Republicans of blocking passage of the bipartisan border security bill that Lankford helped author for political purposes.
