WASHINGTON — A dispute over disaster aid has grown into another partisan standoff that threatens to shut down the federal government, with no clear indication of how Congress will end the stalemate.
The Senate on Friday overwhelmingly rejected a House-passed bill to temporarily fund the government and provide emergency aid for victims of Hurricane Irene and other recent disasters — but also cut green-energy programs supported by Democrats. The Senate voted 59-36 against the measure.
A compromise proposal is scheduled for a vote in the Senate on Monday, but it is likely to fail. Both sides might negotiate over the weekend as a shutdown looms Oct. 1.
The issue is more urgent for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which said its disaster aid accounts will run out of money by Tuesday. FEMA has been assisting communities hit by floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters this year.
Governors from hard-hit disaster states urged Congress to help Americans in need.
“Federal assistance for the victims of storms and floods should be beyond politics,” said a letter from Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, both Republicans, and Democrats Andrew Cuomo of New York and Bev Perdue of North Carolina. “We urge this Congress to move swiftly to ensure that disaster aid through FEMA and other federal programs is sufficient to start rebuilding now.”
FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen said a statement Friday “if Congress does allow the balance of the Disaster Relief fund to reach zero,” the agency would have to temporarily shut down its disaster recovery and assistance operations.
Congress left for the weekend with no clear endgame in sight. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., called for a “cooling-off period” as senators considered a compromise that would reduce the amount of additional disaster aid to $3.65 billion, a level the GOP prefers and about half the amount the Senate approved earlier this month. But the proposal also removes offsetting budget cuts to help pay for the aid, which means Republican support is unlikely.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, sounded doubtful a compromise could be found after talking with Reid early Friday in the divided atmosphere.
“There wasn’t much progress made,” Boehner said.
Disaster aid has traditionally been a bipartisan issue, but with federal deficits a top priority for conservatives, Republicans have dug in on their demands for spending cuts.
No end to partisan bickering
Early Friday, the House voted 219-203, mostly along party lines, for a spending bill to keep the government operating through Nov. 18. It provided $3.7 billion in disaster assistance, partly offset with cuts in two loan programs that finance technological development.
House Democrats balked because the cuts included $1.5 billion for an Energy Department program that subsidizes low- interest loans to help car companies and parts manufacturers retool factories to meet new fuel-economy standards.
The Senate on Friday rejected the House bill, 59-36.
