White House Asks for $5B Disaster Aid

The Obama administration is asking Congress for an additional $5.1 billion in disaster aid over the next 13 months, after Hurricane Irene, flooding in the Midwest and the South, and a series of devastating tornadoes left the Federal Emergency Management Agency short. FEMA's cash reserves had dropped to about $484 million as of Friday, and $200 million in recovery projects have already been put on hold. The questions is whether House Republicans will insist on offsetting disaster relief with cuts to domestic spending, as they have the last several times they approved disaster aid.