The White House is considering plans to combine an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling with the proposed $5.95 billion disaster relief request for Hurricane Harvey in an effort to avoid a possible U.S. debt default, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Two administration officials told Bloomberg the initial request would allocate $5.5 billion in funds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the rest to the Small Business Administration and is expected to be announced as early as Friday.
The Trump administration has begun to prepare the hurricane aid package to cover funding requests through the end of fiscal 2017 on Sept. 30.
Vice President Mike Pence said more than 311,000 citizens from Texas had requested federal hurricane relief funds as of Thursday and the government has granted over $530 million.
A Republican aide told the publication the House may vote on an initial disaster relief measure in the first half of September in an effort to replenish FEMA’s funds used in the hurricane’s aftermath.
