Congress passed legislation Wednesday to send $1.7 billion in disaster relief aid to North Carolina and South Carolina after Hurricane Florence — the first influx of federal funding for long-term recovery efforts but not the last.
Congress authorized the project for up to $526 million in federal money, but the Trump administration says Panther Island doesn’t qualify for Army Corps Civil Works money, and must now compete with a long list of other non-essential priorities.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office warned in April that ICE has consistently underestimated the cost of running its detention program. Two months later, the Trump administration asked Rep. Kevin Yoder to sign off on another $200 million for the agency.
The Texas Republican bucked his conservative cohorts on Capitol Hill, voting to fund military pay raises, along with funding increases for a host of domestic programs.
Congressional Republican leaders are confident the government has enough money in FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to help with Hurricane Florence relief. But some Democrats think more money will be needed.
Immigration lobbyists have pitched Rep. Kevin Yoder’s office on a proposal to pay for hurricane disaster relief by allowing high-skilled workers from India and China to obtain green cards after decades of waiting.
Congress is poised to continue spending $25 million a year into finding a way to stop citrus greening. But some on the farm bill conference committee want to eliminate the special category created for citrus research.
Congress is unlikely to heed pleas from the Trump administration and California Republicans to pass controversial forestry measures in the 2019 Farm Bill, which lawmakers are trying to finalize this month.
Mick Mulvaney, Donald Trump’s budget director, is trying to use his influence to help a South Carolina business that could be badly wounded by the president’s trade policies.
The Trump administration has a new plan to reduce the risk of forest fires by enabling better collaboration with state and local officials. But it’s short on details and ducks issues like climate change and logging.
Texas Republican Kay Granger is known for sending big money home to her Fort Worth district. Now she’s running for a bigger budget-writing role, in a party that’s mantra is cutting spending.
Providing adequate funding, closing the achievement gap and improving teacher pay were ranked as the top education issues by a group of 60 North Carolina Influencers who are leaders in the political, business, academic and faith communities.
A Koch Brothers affiliated group is pressing Senate Democrats and Republicans to back President Donald Trump’s effort to “claw back” $15 billion in unspent federal funding. Democrats say its a stunt.
The ex-South Carolina governor spoke at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, an event that raises money for impoverished children. Haley joked she was invited because they wanted an Indian woman, but Elizabeth Warren failed her DNA test.
