White House urges Congress to approve billions in natural disaster, refugee funding

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The White House on Tuesday called on Congress to approve emergency funding for disaster relief and Afghan refugee resettlement as part of a short-term spending bill.

Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Shalanda Young sent Congress a letter asking for $14 billion to cover natural disasters that occurred before Hurricane Ida made landfall last week and $6.4 billion to assist in the relocation of refugees evacuated from Afghanistan last month. She said there will likely need to be another $10 billion approved for aid for those affected by Ida in Louisiana and in the Northeast.

"The administration is committed to delivering the funding necessary to help impacted states and tribes recover from recent extreme weather events and natural disasters," Young said in a blog post.

The majority of the funding for refugee resettlement, meanwhile, would go to the State and Defense Departments "to support processing sites overseas and in the United States, and U.S. government transportation for our allies and partners between processing sites and the United States,"

The administration is asking Congress to pass the emergency funding before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, to allow more time for the 2022 fiscal year funding process to take place and to avoid a government shutdown.