The Trump administration Wednesday asked Congress for $29 billion in disaster aid for ongoing hurricane relief and recovery efforts and to pay federal flood insurance claims. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told lawmakers in officially submitting the request that the federal flood insurance program "is not designed to handle catastrophic losses like those caused by Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The federal flood insurance program is on track to run out of money to pay claims during the week of Oct. 23. The year-end package would rebuild infrastructure, help people without insurance restore their homes, and, perhaps, help Puerto Rico reconstitute its shattered electrical grid. Congress is in the midst of an effort to reauthorize the flood insurance program, which critics say makes taxpayers subsidize properties that have repeatedly flooded.

Source: Fox News October 04, 2017 21:53 UTC