BUDGET/CRISIS/POLITICS: “The House approved the first installment of emergency aid for victims of Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday [9-6-17], but partisan disagreements emerged over a plan to combine it in the Senate with an increase in the federal government’s borrowing limit.
U.S. treasury officials have said Congress needs to raise the borrowing limit by the end of the month or risk missing payments on bills and defaulting on its debt obligations.
The House passed the $7.85 billion spending bill in a 419-3 vote to fund immediate recovery efforts following Harvey, which made landfall in Texas on Aug. 25. The measure includes $7.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response and recovery efforts, as well as $450 million for the Small Business Administration’s disaster-loan program to help small businesses and homeowners rebuild.
Lawmakers said they expected Congress would have to approve far more money for Harvey recovery efforts later this year. There is very little opposition to the Harvey aid bill in either chamber of Congress, and House lawmakers cheered their chamber’s action.”
-Kristina Peterson, “House Lawmakers Pass $7.85 Billion Harvey Aid Package,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 6, 2017 01:34pm