Politics
Reporter's Notebook: All about the politics of disaster relief
Welcome to the politics of disaster relief.
Republicans are excoriating the Biden/Harris administration for how it responded to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, Tennessee and other parts of the South. This is now about to be a double whammy as Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida.
It unfolds amid a tight presidential election. So the disaster response is now infused with politics in swing states like North Carolina and Georgia. There is also a competitive but not top-tier Senate race in Florida.
Storms can disrupt the typical electorate. The usual people who vote might not make it to the polls. It’s hard to care about voting if you’re low on food, lack electricity and can’t even make it out of the holler in western North Carolina because Helene wrecked the road.
‘IMMEDIATELY RECONVENE’: SCOTT URGES SCHUMER TO RECALL SENATE AMID HELENE’S DEVASTATION
Pray tell, where should you vote in Tampa or Sarasota if your basement is swamped by Milton – after getting drenched when Helene spun through a few weeks ago? You were going to vote at the school down the street. But now it lacks power. You’re now living at your sister’s house inland. But you’re not registered to vote there …
You see what we’re getting at.
Republicans are hammering the Biden/Harris administration for its response to the storm.
“It’s like the DMV at industrial scale,” said Republican vice presidential nominee and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Fox. “It is incompetence of the highest order.”
“At the federal level, this has been a massive failure,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “When you talk to the people who are directly affected, they will tell you that this has been an abject failure. FEMA has lost sight of its core mission. The administration has not shown that they were prepared for this eventuality in this terrible disaster.”
With the South reeling from Hurricane Helene’s path of devastation and Hurricane Milton on the way, the politics of disaster relief are, yet again, becoming all too apparent. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
“Kamala Harris has left them stranded. This is the worst response to a storm or a catastrophe or a hurricane that we’ve ever seen. Probably worse than Katrina. And that’s hard to beat, right?” asked former President Trump.
Storm responses are challenging. Hurricane Andrew was a powerful Category 5 storm that swept through Florida in August 1992. Former President George H.W. Bush’s tepid response to Andrew slashed his support in Florida. “Bush 41” wound up narrowly winning Florida, besting former President Clinton by less than 2%. Bush won Florida by 22 points four years earlier. Moreover, the response to Hurricane Andrew raised questions about the competence of the administration weeks before the election. It’s believed that cost Bush a few points nationwide.
When Clinton took office, he immediately beefed up FEMA to prepare and respond to other natural disasters.
BIDEN GETS DEFENSIVE WHEN PUSHED ON WHO’S COMMANDING’ HURRICANE HELENE RESPONSE
So, part of this tactic is the natural extension of Republicans to undercut the Biden/Harris administration at nearly every turn. This is another component of the GOP narrative that the administration can’t handle the economy. Can’t handle foreign policy. Can’t handle the border.
Did someone say the border?
“We give $20 billion a year to FEMA. And unfortunately, they have drained everything dry,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Fox Business. “We spent $200 billion in Ukraine. We spent $220-$500 a month on our illegal aliens.”
“We give $20 billion a year to FEMA. And unfortunately, they have drained everything dry,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said as he castigated the Biden administration for its alleged prioritization of illegal immigrants over hurricane relief efforts. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This is where things get tricky.
FEMA is under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security. DHS runs a program that sends money to cities besieged by the illegal migrant crisis. Some of the money goes for food and shelter for those in the country illegally. But it also helps those towns cope by addressing strains on their medical systems and other services.
Money for disaster recovery and migrant assistance constitute two separate line items in the DHS budget. Congress approved money for both these programs. In fact, some Republicans would prefer to spend more to help their communities grapple with an infusion of illegal immigration.
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About $640 million currently goes to assist these towns beset by an influx of illegal migrants. But some lawmakers would like that to spike to as much as $3 billion next year.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced legislation to halt the migrant assistance program. And Johnson blurred the line between FEMA disaster aid and migrants and the border.
“FEMA should be involved and the Federal Emergency Management Association. Their mission is to help people in times like this of natural disaster. Not to be engaged in using any pool of funding from any account for resettling illegal aliens who have come across the border,” said Johnson on Fox.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the response to Hurricane Helene a “massive failure” at the federal level. (Getty Images)
Other Republicans believe this may be an opportunity to recalibrate spending overall. Keep in mind that many Republicans look askance at foreign aid to Ukraine.
“As an elected official, it’s our responsibility to put Americans first. Whether you’re in Florida, in my district or you’re anywhere in the union, I think that it’s important for us to prioritize Americans and restore hope and let them know they’re not forgotten,” said Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., on Fox.
But some Republicans compared issues with FEMA’s response to how the administration addresses other subjects.
KJP SLAMMED AFTER HURRICANE HELENE OVER MIXED MESSAGES ON WHETHER FEMA RESOURCES USED FOR MIGRANTS
“This administration seems to have no problem finding money when they want to spend it on their priorities. When they need hundreds of billions of dollars to pay off student loans for graduate students and gender studies programs, they somehow find it. When it’s trying to get helicopters to deliver food and water and cellular service and lifesaving medicine into these mountain valleys, they somehow can’t seem to find the money,” declared Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on NBC.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell castigated Republicans for suggesting FEMA was focused on other issues rather than the storms.
“It’s frankly ridiculous and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people,” said Criswell on ABC.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton are likely to leave both meteorological and electoral scars in their wake. (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Before leaving Washington, Congress green-lighted $20 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) as part of the interim spending plan to avoid a government shutdown. But Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas muddled matters when he said FEMA had enough funds to respond to Helene for “immediate needs” but not enough to get through “the season.”
The “season” to which Mayorkas refers is the annual hurricane “season.” It stretches through Nov. 30. Note that Mayorkas made this remark when there was the potential for another storm, but Milton hadn’t yet formed in the Gulf of Mexico.
Some Republicans pounced on Mayorkas. But after considering the severity of Helene, it will likely draw down the DRF for “immediate needs.” The key phrase here is “immediate needs.” Milton will probably do the same. That’s why Congress must likely tackle disaster relief in at least two tranches when it returns to session in November. Lawmakers will need to refill the DRF. And the price tags will start to roll in for Helene and Milton. That’s to say nothing of outstanding disasters like Hurricane Beryl in Texas, tornadoes in Iowa, a typhoon on Guam and wildfires in Hawaii.
FEMA HAS FUNDS NEEDED FOR ‘IMMEDIATE RESPONSE AND RECOVERY,’ DESPITE MAYORKAS’ WARNING
However, Johnson is unwilling to summon lawmakers back to Washington to grapple with disasters.
“You don’t just send estimates to the federal government. You send specific needs and requests based upon the actual damages. And that takes some time, especially with storms of this magnitude. So Congress will do its job,” said Johnson on Fox.
So, lawmakers must first reload the DRF for future immediate needs, then mete out bigger chunks of change for Americans to cope with the impacts of Helene and Milton. The government funding deadline is Dec. 20. It’s possible that the latter chunk of funding is folded into spending measures around Christmas.
But as for the politics? The election is fast approaching. The storms could impact voting this fall. And while Helene and Milton will certainly leave a mark meteorologically, they will probably leave a mark electorally, too.
Politics
EXCLUSIVE: ICE says El Paso detention facility will stay open under new contractor after $1.2B deal scrapped
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EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas will remain open and is undergoing an operational upgrade, Fox News Digital has learned.
“Camp East Montana is NOT closing, quite the opposite,” an ICE spokesperson exclusively told Fox News Digital Tuesday.
“Rather, ICE has contracted with a new provider following Secretary Noem’s termination of the old contract inherited from the Department of War. ICE is always looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care to illegal aliens in our custody.”
Camp East Montana is photographed Friday, March 6, 2026, in El Paso, Texas. (Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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The spokesperson said the new contract will allow the facility to maintain what the agency described as the “highest detention standards” while expanding oversight.
According to ICE, the new contractor will also provide increased on-site medical care, additional staffing and a “PRECISE quality assurance surveillance plan.”
The agency said the updated agreement also strengthens ICE’s direct oversight of operations at the El Paso-area facility.
“Far from closing, Camp East Montana is upgrading,” the spokesperson said.
El Paso immigration facility faces scrutiny but ICE says Camp East Montana is upgrading, not closing, after the $1.2 billion contract termination. (Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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The news that the facility will remain open comes after The Washington Post reported that the facility could face closure amid scrutiny over operations.
A document was distributed to ICE staff, the Post reports, indicated that the agency was drafting a letter to terminate the facility’s $1.2 billion contract at an unspecified date.
ICE officials, however, characterized the contract termination as a deliberate effort by Noem to raise standards and improve services.
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Camp East Montana is photographed Friday, March 6, 2026, in El Paso, Texas, as a bus enters the detention center. (Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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The facility, located at Fort Bliss in Texas, has been used to house thousands of detainees as part of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
ICE did not immediately provide details on the identity of the new contractor or the timeline for full implementation.
WASHINGTON — Russia is emerging as one of the few early economic beneficiaries of the war with Iran, as disruptions to energy infrastructure drive up demand for Russian exports and the world casts its gaze to the Middle East and away from Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The U.S. and its European counterparts slapped severe sanctions on Russia in March 2022, barely a month into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The effect was a stranglehold on Russia’s exports, depriving Putin’s war effort of at least $500 billion, experts say. But over the last week, as President Trump’s war in the Middle East choked energy markets worldwide, the White House began easing its restrictions on Moscow.
“It is traitorous conduct for you to help Russia,” California Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said on X, demanding the Trump administration reverse course. “Russia is giving intelligence info to Iran that helps Iran target American forces.”
Crude droplets rained over Tehran after Israeli airstrikes decimated oil depots, draping the Iranian capital in a dense smog. Iranian counterattacks have also targeted refineries and oil fields in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Crude oil prices have surged, and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has all but ceased, sending energy importers in search of alternate sources.
Those spikes are giving Russia, one of the world’s largest oil and gas exporters, a rare advantage. After spending a decade as the world’s most sanctioned nation over his aggression in Ukraine, Putin is finally starting to regain some leverage in global markets.
“In the current economic situation, if we refocus now on those markets that need increased supplies, we can gain a foothold there,” Putin said at a meeting at the Kremlin on Monday, according to Russian state media. “It’s important for Russian energy companies to take advantage of the current situation.”
On March 4, the Treasury Department issued a temporary 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil. The appeal by the Trump administration was described as a way to ease demand for Mideast oil, but was criticized as a reversal of sanctions placed against Putin meant to deny him the capital needed to fund his occupation of eastern Ukraine.
Now, Moscow is poised to press that advantage further, after Trump said Monday he will further lift sanctions on oil-producing countries to ease the trade friction and reintroduce additional oil and gas supplies. The only countries with U.S. oil sanctions are Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
“So, we have sanctions on some countries. We’re going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out,” Trump said at a news conference at his golf club in Doral, Fla. “Then, who knows, maybe we won’t have to put them on — they’ll be so much peace.”
The surprise concession to Moscow comes as reports suggest Russia is assisting Iran in targeting U.S. personnel.
Trump’s announcement followed an unscheduled hourlong call with Putin about the situation in the Middle East.
The war has also set the stage for Russia to make gains in Ukraine, as hostilities draw the global spotlight away from Kyiv and its struggle to hold back the bigger Russian army. U.S.-brokered talks between the two adversaries have been sidelined as Washington shifts focus to its war in Iran.
“At the moment, the partners’ priority and all attention are focused on the situation around Iran,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X. “We see that the Russians are now trying to manipulate the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region to the benefit of their aggression.”
Putin is unlikely to intervene militarily on Iran’s behalf, according to Robert English, an international foreign policy expert at USC. Instead, Putin is expected to play his position carefully, reap the economic rewards, and keep focused firmly on Ukraine at a time when key air defense systems are diverted from Ukraine to the Persian Gulf.
“Russia is winning the Iran-U.S.-Israel war, at least so far. Oil and natural gas prices have soared, filling Putin’s Ukraine war chest,” he said. “Russia is gathering forces for a big spring offensive in Eastern Ukraine, and it’s not even front-page news.”
Ukraine has dispatched drone interceptors and ordered its anti-drone experts to pivot from their war with Russia to help Western allies help intercept Iranian attacks. Zelensky’s allegiance may not pay off, English said.
“When will Ukraine see the benefits of helping the U.S. with anti-drone technology? No time soon, apparently,” he said.
Even several weeks of interruption in Gulf energy supplies could bring the largest windfall to Russia, the Associated Press reported, citing energy analysts.
The economic turmoil caused by the war has exposed vulnerabilities in Europe’s energy system, particularly its lingering dependence on Russian fuel.
Despite sanctions, the European Union remains a major purchaser of Russian natural gas and crude oil. Russian gas accounted for approximately 19% of E.U. gas imports in 2025. Allied Europeans have agreed to completely stop importing Russian liquefied natural gas, oil and pipeline gas by late 2027.
Putin expressed no desire Monday to rescue the European market now that U.S.-Israeli escalations and Iranian retaliation have choked oil production and shipping. The Russian president instead proposed to divert volumes away from the European market “to more promising areas” like the Asia-Pacific region, Slovakia and Hungary, which he said were “reliable counterparties.”
European leaders have been criticized for being “stunned, sidelined, and disunited” since hostilities began in late February. Excluded from the initial military planning by the U.S. and Israel, Europe entered the conflict with gas storage at only 30% capacity, the lowest levels in years. Instead of bold action, English said, European leaders have quarreled over internal divisions and rivalries.
“Sky-high energy prices are the underlying cause of many of these frictions, as Europe struggles now more than ever to find affordable alternatives to the cheap Russian petroleum,” English said.
Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, told European leaders in Brussels on Tuesday that rising energy prices and the world’s shifting attention risk strengthening the Kremlin at a critical moment in the war in Ukraine.
“So far, there is only one winner in this war,” Costa said. “Russia.”
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President Donald Trump is taking his feud with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to the libertarian lawmaker’s home turf on Wednesday.
Trump is expected to hold an event in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday, the Republican Party of Kentucky announced on social media Monday. It’s located in the northern part of the state’s 4th Congressional District, which Massie represents.
Massie’s primary rival, Ed Gallrein, will attend the Hebron event, his campaign confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, while deferring all other questions on the matter to the White House.
Massie himself will miss the event due to a previously scheduled official engagement, his spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
KHANNA AND MASSIE THREATEN TO FORCE A VOTE ON IRAN AS PROSPECT OF US ATTACK LOOMS
President Donald Trump will be visiting Rep. Thomas Massie’s congressional district on Wednesday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
When asked about the visit, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Fox News Digital, “President Trump will visit the great states of Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to tout his economic victories and detail his Administration’s aggressive, ongoing efforts to lower prices and make America more affordable.”
The president has thrown his considerable influence behind Gallrein to unseat Massie after the GOP lawmaker publicly defied Trump on multiple occasions.
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Massie most recently was one of two House Republicans to vote to stop Trump’s joint operation in Iran with Israel, though the legislation was successfully blocked by the majority of GOP lawmakers and a handful of Democrats.
Ed Gallrein, left, seen with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House. (Ed Gallrein congressional campaign)
He was also one of two Republicans to vote against Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last year.
Trump in turn has hurled a slew of personal attacks against Massie, including calling him “weak and pathetic” in a statement endorsing Gallrein in October.
“He only votes against the Republican Party, making life very easy for the Radical Left. Unlike ‘lightweight’ Massie, a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN,” Trump posted on Truth Social at the time, one of numerous criticisms targeting the Kentucky Republican through the years.
He called Massie the “worst Republican congressman” in July amid Massie’s bipartisan push to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.
Then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, and Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But Massie has so far appeared to defy political gravity despite making political enemies out of both Trump and House GOP leaders.
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He handily defeated multiple primary challengers in 2024 and 2022, despite public feuds with Trump, and has served his district since 2012.
Gallrein is a retired Navy SEAL and farmer who launched his campaign days after Trump made his endorsement. Their primary election day is May 19.
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