Senate passes disaster aid bill, ending months of gridlock

Washington — Ending months of gridlock over additional hurricane relief funds for Puerto Rico, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a multi-billion-dollar aid package that includes assistance to the storm-battered island and mainland states struck by floods, storms and fire. 

By a vote of 85 to 8, senators agreed Thursday to send the $19-billion legislation to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, which is also expected to pass it. Previously, Republican senators had been wary of signing off on additional aid for hurricane-battered Puerto Rico, which President Trump has strongly opposed. 

If passed by the House and signed by the president, the disaster package — which has more than doubled in size since the House first addressed it last year — would deliver aid for southern states suffering from last fall’s hurricanes, Midwestern states deluged by springtime floods, and fire-ravaged rural California. 

“Even though it may be five months late, today is a good day for the United States Congress, for the American people, and for the nation,” Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote in a statement. “I have said from the beginning that any disaster supplemental that passes this chamber cannot pick and choose which American citizens to help in their time of need.

Earlier Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer meanwhile said Congress had an “obligation” to get the disaster aid package finished before they recess for the Memorial Day work period. 

Such measures are invariably bipartisan, but this round has been bogged down by weeks of fighting. Democrats ultimately bested President Trump and won more aid for Puerto Rico, which was slammed by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017.

Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this report.