The House is set to vote Tuesday on $50 billion in relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy, a package designed to speed aid to devastated communities in New York and New Jersey, and a vote that could provide an early test of the resolve of Republican deficit hawks.
The package is likely to be approved on the strength of votes from Democrats and Republicans who hail from communities hit hard by the Oct. 29, 2012, storm, as well as others who come from communities that have faced recent natural disasters.
However, it faces a tough challenge from fiscal conservatives who believe the emergency spending should be offset with spending cuts to other parts of the federal budget to avoid adding to the federal debt.
After delaying a vote on the aid package earlier this month — earning an embarrassing rebuke from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) — House leaders have now designed a complicated legislative pathway for the aid.
Tuesday afternoon, the House agreed to an underlying bill that includes $17 billion intended to cover immediate relief needs, including $5.4 billion for the FEMA fund that funnels aid directly to individuals and local communities to rebuild. The measure passed on a 327 to 91 vote.
Later, the House will take action on an amendment that would provide $33.6 billion in additional money to cover a longer-term effort to rebuild.
Splitting the bill into two pieces allows those Republicans who want to vote to provide immediate help to withhold their votes from the long-term effort.
Supporters believe all of the money is desperately needed — Christie and New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) have requested nearly $80 billion in federal aid.
Together, the $50.6 billion, along with $9.7 billion for flood relief approved by the House earlier this month, would equal a package passed in December on a bipartisan basis in the Senate.
Backers fear changes to the package could derail the bill in the Senate.
“We don’t want to find ourselves with a bill the Senate can’t take, and we’ll have to ping-pong around here for a few months,” said Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.). “It’s important that we get this done and get it done quickly.”
But to appease conservatives, House leaders are allowing votes on 12 additional amendments — chosen from among more than 90 proposed by members — many of which would slice out spending projects that some conservatives consider not directly related to storm relief.
Other amendments seek to offset the relief dollars with spending cuts to other parts of the budget. Traditionally, storm relief is considered emergency spending, much like money to fund wars and appropriated quickly by Congress on top of other spending priorities.
But some fiscal conservatives have expressed exasperation with that notion. The total $60 billion relief package is larger than the budgets of many states. It also would swallow up more than half of the spending cuts set to take effect next month as part of the hard-fought sequester process, which was designed to begin denting the federal deficit.
“We’re spending money we don’t have. We just have to control our spending,” said Rep. Paul C. Broun (R-Ga.).
The House defeated a key amendment proposed by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) and backed by the conservative Club for Growth that would have offset the $17 billion underlying measure by cutting 1.63 percent from every federal agency, including the military.
The measure fell on a 162 to 258 vote after House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) appealed to colleagues that the across-the-board offsetting cut would cause indiscriminate damage to federal programs. He noted that the cut would total more than the size of the entire Agriculture department.
“At times, the spending of federal dollars is indeed necessary,” he said. “Natural disasters hit unexpectedly, and sometimes require a response that we cannot foresee.”
But 157 Republicans — including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) and a majority of the GOP caucus — supported the amendment, even as it fell to opposition from other Republicans and Democrats.
The House is scheduled to take final action on the full bill Tuesday evening.
Republican supporters of the legislation believe that with their votes and those of Democrats, who broadly support the package, they will approve the $50 billion.
That outcome would mimic an initial vote earlier this month on $9.7 billion to pay federal flood insurance claims. It passed by a comfortable 354 to 67 margin, but its supporters included more Democrats than Republicans.
