Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) is demanding answers from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell after discovering that billions of dollars for disaster relief have been directed to COVID-19 efforts.
COVID-19 funding falls under non-immediate disaster relief.
“As disaster relief efforts for Hurricanes Helene and Milton progress, the American people have legitimate concerns regarding the availability of FEMA funding to respond to these hurricanes and future events in the near term,” Roy wrote. “FEMA is rapidly spending billions out of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) on non-immediate needs, including billions in unnecessary funding for COVID-19, which threatens to deplete the fund despite there being nearly two months left in hurricane season.”
Roy wrote that FEMA spent $9 billion of the $20.26 billion Congress provided to the DRF in just over one week. “Most of this funding has gone toward longer-term recovery efforts, not relief for victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton,” he explained. “Indeed, as of October 9, 2024, FEMA has spent $344 million on Hurricane Helene efforts, though I understand more funding has been obligated.”
“The depletion of the DRF is of particular concern considering the sheer amount of funding that has gone to COVID-19 projects nearly a year and a half after the COVID-19 emergency – which should have been terminated much earlier – was terminated,” he added, noting that an estimated $1.2 billion of the COVID-19 funding went to California alone.
Although the pandemic is over, the disaster relief fund will “continue to spend billions on COVID-19, which will jeopardize FEMA’s ability to use the DRF to respond to disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Milton for years to come,” the Republican warned.
He called for FEMA to be “transparent” about the use of its appropriated dollars and “ensure Americans who are currently suffering due to recent disasters are prioritized.”
Roy then demanded that Criswell provide information about the disaster fund and explain how FEMA will ensure that COVID-19 projects do not interfere with FEMA’s ability to respond to disasters in the future.
