Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., says Trump administration not living up to promise to help farmers recover from disasters

U.S. Rep. Austin Scott
(AP photo by Evan Vucci)

Gridlock over a $17 billion disaster-aid bill prompted criticism for President Trump's administration from Rep. Austin Scott, who represents south-central Georgia. "It was a rare rebuke of the administration from a Republican congressman, most of whom have been in lockstep with the president's policies," Catherine Boudreau reports for Politico.

During a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing on Thursday, Scott read aloud part of a speech in which Vice President Mike Pence told Georgia farmers last fall that the administration would help them recover from Hurricane Michael. But the administration is breaking its promise, Scott said, since seven months later, Congress and the White House still can't agree on a disaster aid bill for those hurt by recent disasters, Boudreau reports. The main hang-up is that President Trump does not want to give more aid to Puerto Rico, and has made unsubstantiated claims that the local government has wasted previous aid money.

Scott, "who helped secure about $3 billion for agriculture in House disaster legislation, leveled much of his criticism at President Donald Trump’s White House," Boudreau reports. He "said the White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to submit a formal disaster request to Congress to supplement already-authorized federal emergency aid, but has done so for other priorities. He noted that OMB last week asked for $4.5 billion to address what Trump has described as a humanitarian and security crisis at the border with Mexico," Boudreau reports.

In his remarks, Scott obliquely criticized Mick Mulvaney, the former OMB director and Trump's acting chief of staff, who has been a leading opponent of agricultural subsidies. "I appreciate the vice president’s comments. I appreciate the president’s favorable comments about the agricultural community," Scott said. "But when things are then handed off to people at the Office of Management and Budget, who consider the American farmer and the American farm family nothing but subsidy-sucking freeloaders, then there’s a disconnect in what is actually coming out of the administration, and what the administration is telling us that they’re going to do."

Scott said OMB's opposition to disaster aid for farmers has been a major stumbling block in negotiations, and said his constituents will start losing their farms and homes soon if Congress doesn't pass an aid package, Boudreau reports.