McCaul, Green, Homeland Security Committee Republicans Press Mayorkas on FEMA Spending for Disasters, Illegal Aliens

Austin, Texas - Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) - chairman emeritus of the House Committee on Homeland Security - joined Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Republican members of the committee in demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the backward spending priorities of the Biden-Harris administration. The members condemned the Biden-Harris administration's push for hundreds of millions of dollars every year for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to spend on illegal immigrants through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program-Humanitarian (EFSP-H) and the Shelter Services Program (SSP).

"FEMA operates the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), the federal government's primary fund for disaster relief activities," the lawmakers wrote. "Throughout the Biden-Harris administration, Congress consistently met or exceeded, through supplemental appropriations, the President's budget requests for disaster relief. ... The Committee, however, is troubled that the Department and FEMA may not have properly appraised Congress of its need for additional disaster relief funds while simultaneously requesting large sums of monies to fund FEMA's Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a grant program to fund nonfederal entities for shelter and services provided to migrants encountered by the Department, including illegal aliens."

Read the full letter here.

Background:

• FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is used to pay for relief needed following disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Milton. It is also used to fund recovery from past disasters.
• Despite Secretary Mayorkas' recent claim that FEMA will run out of hurricane relief funds before the end of the year, Congress provided FEMA with $20 billion in new DRF funds on September 26.
• Over the past three and a half years, the Biden-Harris administration has fought for billions of taxpayer dollars to radically alter FEMA's mission.
• EFSP-Humanitarian was created several years ago to help pay for costs associated with illegal aliens. During the Biden-Harris administration, it has been renamed the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), and the dollars allocated to it have increased dramatically.
• In last year's supplemental spending request alone, which House Republicans roundly rejected, the Biden-Harris administration asked for $1.4 billion in new funds for the SSP.

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