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Senate Republicans weigh in on new government funding challenges as clock ticks

By Allison Pecorin
December 18, 2024, 10:29 PM

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Southern State Republicans draw the line at disaster relief

As House Republicans go back to the drawing board to try to satiate Trump's demands, it's clear they'll have to balance them against all-out insistence from many Senate Republicans that billions in disaster relief remain tacked to this bill.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose home state of South Carolina was deeply impacted by Hurricane Helene, said he will vote against a funding bill that doesn't include relief for his and other affected states. He called it a "moral imperative to get money into the system."

"We've got to have the disaster relief. I can't go home and play like it didn't happen," Graham said. "To anybody who thinks that disaster relief is pork, come to where I live and see what happened in my state in North Carolina and Georgia."

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, whose home state was affected by both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, said he'd do everything in his power to slow down the passage of any government funding bill that doesn't include funding for relief. "I feel very strongly. [If] we don't get disaster in the bill I'll do everything to keep us there until we do," Tillis said. Tillis said he spoke with VP-Elect Vance Wednesday and said Vance "gets" the importance of disaster aid.

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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-republicans-weigh-new-government-funding-challenges-clock/story?id=116930548