A senior FEMA official issued a stark warning to congressional appropriators Wednesday about the impacts that a looming Department of Homeland Security shutdown could have on federal disaster aid.
Gregg Phillips, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response and recovery efforts, also defended the agency’s slow-walking of disaster reimbursements during the hearing, triggering a tense back-and-forth with the House’s top Democratic appropriator.
The spat between Phillips and House Appropriations ranking member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) accented the growing frustration on Capitol Hill as Democrats’ push to reform immigration enforcement operations threatens to shut down FEMA, the Coast Guard and other DHS bureaus.
Lawmakers and the White House have been discussing immigration enforcement reforms that could go into a renegotiated Homeland Security spending bill, but it appears all but impossible that a deal will materialize before Friday’s funding deadline.
