The News & Observer by Danielle Battaglia

With six hours left before a government shutdown, the U.S. House came up with a compromise that both Republicans and Democrats could agree on, and that includes disaster relief aid for victims of Hurricane Helene.

The bill extends government funding until March 14 and provides more than $100 billion in disaster relief aid and $10 billion for farmers, but strips out President-elect Donald Trump’s request to extend the debt limit.

Thirty-four Republicans voted against the bill, including Rep. Dan Bishop, a Republican from North Carolina; Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat from Texas, voted present. All other lawmakers from North Carolina supported it.

The Senate quickly approved the bill and President Joe Biden signed it Saturday.

Sen. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, Republicans from North Carolina, backed the measure. Both were on the House floor to watch the vote there.

“I’m proud to have worked alongside my Senate colleagues to secure this critical funding for Western North Carolina,” Tillis said in a news release after the Senate vote. “I remain committed to working with the outgoing Biden Administration and the incoming Trump Administration to ensure these resources reach Western North Carolina as expeditiously as possible. This is a significant downpayment to help make Western North Carolina whole again.”

“It is going to take years to fully recover after the devastation of Hurricane Helene,” Budd said in a release Saturday. “I will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the resilient citizens of the western mountains as they undertake the difficult job of rebuilding. They will never be forgotten as long as I have anything to say about it.”

North Carolina is set to gain $9 billion in aid to help those impacted by Helene, a devastating storm that struck Western North Carolina in late September, killing 103 people in the state and leveling towns and communities.

Biden, Tillis and Budd urged Congress to return early to aid victims, shortly after the storm hit, but 85 days passed without Congress passing any additional financial funding for victims of the storm.

Tillis, Budd and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, agreed in a news conference Thursday that disaster aid for the Carolinas was a priority in this legislation for Trump, who had help dismantle two earlier versions of the legislation.

Tillis and Graham threatened to filibuster on the Senate floor if any other form of the bill came over that didn’t include disaster aid for their states.

And at moments throughout Thursday night and into Friday that seemed possible.

Speaker Mike Johnson struck an agreement with Democrats when he released the first version of the bill, but Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and Republican politician Vivek Ramaswamy began posting on social media their displeasure of it, which caused the first two versions to be thrown out or defeated, despite Trump’s support of the second version.

Rep. Kathy Manning, a Democrat from Greensboro, blamed Musk in a news release Friday night for how close the country got to a government shutdown, and said Democrats prevented that from happening.

“That’s why today, I voted in favor of a continuing resolution to fund the government through March, deliver vital disaster relief to North Carolinians impacted by Hurricane Helene, and avert a disastrous shutdown during the holiday season that could have had severe economic consequences and harmed hardworking people all across our district and all across the country.”

Rep. Wiley Nickel, a Democrat from Cary, said in a news release that Americans needed the government to stay open and North Carolinians needed the disaster aid and support for farmers.

“This legislation is far from perfect, and many crucial, bipartisan provisions that I support were removed from the final bill,” said Deborah Ross, a Democrat from Raleigh. “However, Western North Carolina has been waiting for federal assistance to rebuild after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, and this package will deliver the aid that families, small businesses, childcare centers, seniors, and so many more need. The road to recovery will be long, but this package is a crucial first step.”

She urged senators to pass the bill.

If they don’t, Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat from Snow Hill, was already looking at who in his district would be directly impacted: 6,700 federal workers, 46,000 veterans and 174,000 seniors.

He said he voted for the legislation because of what it provides his constituents in rural Eastern North Carolina. “It’s do-or-die for our farmers,” Davis said.

“Many are at their wits‘ end, and the economic assistance in the continuing resolution will be the difference between whether family farms are forced to close. The continuing resolution also addresses healthcare, essential services, and aid for western North Carolina. I stand with our farmers, western North Carolina, and families across America.”

Link to full article: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article297407067.html