The top lawmakers will spend the next couple of weeks working on a bipartisan legislation that at least partially satisfies this request.

Biden’s administration sent a request for emergency funding of approximately $100 billion to Congress on Monday, in order to rebuild the communities that were affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton as well as a number of other disasters across the country.

The top lawmakers will spend the next couple of weeks working on a bipartisan measure that meets at least part of this request. They hope to pass it between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Congress faces a deadline for a shutdown of the government on December 20. It’s possible that disaster aid will be tied to a funding patch or larger package.

The White House wants to fill FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund with $40 billion, but also to provide emergency funding to more than a dozen federal agencies, including those that deal with housing, transportation infrastructures, assistance to farmers, nutrition, health care, and improvements in water systems. The White House request includes funding for schools, community development, wildland firefighters’ pay, and employment assistance for disaster survivors.

Speaker Mike Johnson announced Monday that the lawmakers would now “get to work” on evaluating disaster aid requests, noting that “estimating recovery costs” is a “deliberate process.”

The speaker continued, “And we will make sure that we provide for hurricane victims and those who have suffered.”

White House budget director Shalanda young said that the Biden administration is expecting to see a disaster assistance package passed “with strong bipartisan support and bicameral backing” and that she “is not surprised” that Johnson “has given people comfort that funding will be on its way and there is no room for politics when it comes to disaster relief.”

FEMA estimates the disaster relief fund in the United States will be able to continue funding recovery efforts as long as Congress clears the funding before the funding deadline of December. This is assuming that no major disasters occur between now and then.

Small Business Administration disaster loans have been without funds for more than a month. More than 10,000 loans are on hold for businesses and homeowners who want to borrow money for repairs or operating expenses.

Young stated in a press conference that “small businesses, nonprofits, and renters all use this money to rebuild.” “This fund needs to be replenished as quickly as possible.”

Last week, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina tried to pass an incredibly narrow bill that would have refilled the Small Business Administration disaster loan program. Rand Paul (R-Ky. ) objected and insisted on an amendment that would offset the costs by clawing funding back from climate programs that Democrats implemented through the Inflation Reduction Act.

Since 2022, Congress has not approved a comprehensive package of disaster assistance. Congress Republicans ignored the Biden Administration’s repeated requests for disaster aid. This includes a $4-billion proposal from last summer to fund the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Baltimore. It also includes a $56-billion request made last year for emergency cash, which was used to help schools, child care providers, and nutrition assistance.