XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, or.politics, alt.politics.trump   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.atheism   
   From: Dawn.Belle.Flood@gmail.com   
      
   On 10/5/2024 6:29 PM, Craig wrote:   
   > Fact Check   
   > Trump’s False Claims About the Federal Response to Hurricane Helene   
   > The former president falsely accused the Biden administration of spending   
   > disaster funding on migrants, neglecting areas that had voted for   
   > Republicans and ignoring a call from a Republican governor.   
   >   
   > Former President Donald J. Trump, wearing a blue suit, a red tie and a red   
   > Make America Great Again hat, stands in front of a destroyed brick building   
   > with a crowd behind him.   
   > Former President Donald J. Trump on Monday at a furniture store in   
   > Valdosta, Ga., destroyed by Hurricane Helene.Credit...Doug Mills/The New   
   > York Times   
   > Linda Qiu   
   > By Linda Qiu   
   > Reporting from Washington   
   > Oct. 4, 2024, 6:54 p.m. ET   
   > After Hurricane Helene battered several Southeastern states last week,   
   > former President Donald J. Trump wasted no time in criticizing President   
   > Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the federal government’s   
   > response — often making false accusations.   
   > Mr. Trump’s supporters, including Elon Musk and Republicans on the House   
   > Judiciary Committee, have seized on the claims, parroting his talking   
   > points to undercut the administration.   
   > Here’s a fact check of Mr. Trump’s recent remarks.   
   > What Was Said   
   > “Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for   
   > illegal migrants.”   
   > — Mr. Trump at a rally in Michigan on Thursday   
   > False. Funding for migrant shelters did not amount to “billions of   
   > dollars,” nor did it deplete the coffers of the Federal Emergency   
   > Management Agency. And no disaster funding has been spent on those   
   > shelters.   
   > FEMA, like all other federal agencies, receives funding from Congress for   
   > specific functions. Its disaster relief fund received almost $36 billion in   
   > funding for the 2024 fiscal year, which ended in September. Outside that   
   > fund, FEMA also received more than $5 billion for its National Flood   
   > Insurance Program; more than $1.5 billion for personnel, procurement and   
   > facilities; and almost $4 billion for federal grant programs it   
   > administers.   
   > Mr. Trump’s allies have specifically focused on one of those initiatives,   
   > the Shelter and Services Program. Created in 2023 by Congress, the program   
   > doles out grants to groups and localities that provide shelter and other   
   > services to migrants released from the custody of the Department of   
   > Homeland Security, which FEMA is a part of. Its $650 million in funding for   
   > the 2024 fiscal year came from Customs and Border Protection’s budget. That   
   > amount is equal to less than 2 percent of the disaster relief funding and   
   > even less compared with FEMA’s total funding for that fiscal year.   
   > In other words, the shelter program and the disaster relief fund have two   
   > separate streams of funding. A spokeswoman from FEMA also said the Biden   
   > administration has never diverted any disaster relief funding for migrant   
   > shelters or any other purpose, adding that the claims from Mr. Trump and   
   > others are “completely false.”   
   > Officials have said that there is enough money to address immediate rescue-   
   > and-recovery needs that arise from Hurricane Helene’s destruction, but   
   > cleanup could cost billions more and FEMA does not have enough funding for   
   > additional storms.   
   > In late September, President Biden signed into law short-term funding that   
   > extended 2024 fiscal year funding levels through Dec. 20. It specifically   
   > gave FEMA access to a full year’s worth of disaster relief funding. In a   
   > news conference on Wednesday, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security   
   > secretary, acknowledged that FEMA could “dip into funds that are slated for   
   > the duration of the year to meet immediate needs.”   
   > “But that doesn’t speak about the future and the fact, as I mentioned   
   > earlier, that these extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and   
   > severity, and we have to be funded for the sake of the American people,” he   
   > added. “This is not a political issue.”   
   > Moreover, it is unclear how much funding earmarked for migrant shelters   
   > FEMA could legally divert for disaster relief, at least without   
   > congressional approval. The funding package for the 2024 fiscal year, and   
   > in turn the short-term funding extension, specifies that funding dedicated   
   > to homeland security cannot be repurposed in a way that augments or reduces   
   > funding for existing programs by 10 percent.   
   > What Was Said   
   > “I’ll be there shortly, but don’t like the reports that I’m getting   
   about   
   > the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out   
   > of their way to not help people in Republican areas.”   
   > — Mr. Trump in a post on Truth Social on Monday   
   > This lacks evidence. While some have criticized the federal response and   
   > emergency responders faced obstacles in reaching some areas, there is no   
   > evidence that the Biden administration was purposefully ignoring the needs   
   > of Republican areas. In fact, Republican governors have praised the Biden   
   > administration for its response, and FEMA has designated counties in   
   > several states — including dozens won by Mr. Trump in the 2020 presidential   
   > election — as eligible to apply for federal assistance.   
   > The Republican governors of Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee have all   
   > thanked the federal government and described the federal response as fast.   
   > Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, also a Republican, said that FEMA had been   
   > embedded in the state operations center in Atlanta since before the storm   
   > hit and “we got a great relationship with them.”   
   > FEMA has said it has deployed more than 1,000 personnel across the affected   
   > areas to deliver more than 1.9 million meals, over one million liters of   
   > water, 30 generators and more than 95,000 tarps.   
   > Of more than 20 counties designated in Florida as eligible for individual   
   > and public assistance, as of Oct. 3, Mr. Trump lost just three in the 2020   
   > election (Leon, Pinellas and Hillsborough). Of more than 20 in North   
   > Carolina, as of Oct. 2, Mr. Trump lost just two (Buncombe and Watauga). And   
   > of about 15 counties in South Carolina, as of Sept. 29, Mr. Trump lost just   
   > one (Bamberg).   
   > What Was Said   
   > “He’s been calling the president, hasn’t been able to get him.”   
   > — Mr. Trump at a news conference on Monday   
   > False. Mr. Trump was referring to Mr. Kemp, who earlier that day spoke   
      
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