Context - you can pull up dozens saying they await a request

Posted on: August 30, 2017 at 09:00:54 CT

Congress will return next week from summer vacation, with the hurricane complicating an already difficult fiscal situation with the federal budget and Trump's Mexican border wall proposal.

Current government funding runs out on Sept. 30. Congress must approve a measure to keep the government funded and prevent a shutdown. Trump threatened last week to shut down the government if Congress did not agree to $1.6 billion in funding to start building his proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Harvey "will increase the pressure on Washington to not shut down the government, but it also makes the September 30 package more cumbersome and complicated," Chris Krueger, policy analyst at financial firm Cowen & Co, said in a research note.

Asked if Harvey made him reconsider his shutdown threat, Trump said: “It has nothing to do with it, really. I think this is separate. This is going to go really very, very quickly."

Congressional Republicans have not spelled out their plan for dealing with the budget and a related, must-pass increase in the federal debt ceiling. Some aides and analysts have speculated that those issues might be swept into a single piece of legislation, possibly including Harvey aid.

House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Monday that "Republicans must be ready to join Democrats in passing a timely relief bill."

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long said more than 450,000 people were expected to seek disaster assistance because of catastrophic flooding.

"We will help those affected by this terrible disaster. The first step in that process is a formal request for resources from the administration," said AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan.