Senate and Trump Close Deal on Disaster Aid Package

The Senate closed a last-minute deal with President Donald Trump on a disaster aid package on Thursday, according to a Politico report.

The $19.1 billion aid bill will help assist states devastated by wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding, after months of roadblocks.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said he and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) spoke with Trump, and the president signed off on the bill, which will not include border humanitarian funds.

“I’m sure he wanted (the border $$), but we took it all out, we’re going to try and push that separately when we come back as needed,” Shelby said of Trump, “But we’re sticking with disaster now, that’s the way to pass the bill.”

A release from the Senate Appropriations Committee said that the measure will include a $600 million package in nutrition assistance and $304 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for Puerto Rico, which was a key priority for Senate Democrats and a sticking point for Republicans and the president.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Thursday that the disaster aid portion should be dealt with separately from border security and humanitarian relief.

“If we can’t come to an agreement this morning on the other extraneous issues that the House is discussing, we should set those issues to the side,” Schumer said. “We should pass disaster agreement as is.”