Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks to reporters just after the Senate passed a $19 billion disaster aid bill to help a number of states and Puerto Rico recover after a series of hurricanes, floods and wildfires.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks to reporters just after the Senate passed a $19 billion disaster aid bill to help a number of states and Puerto Rico recover after a series of hurricanes, floods and wildfires. / AP

A conservative House Republican complaining of Washington’s free-spending ways has temporarily blocked a long-overdue $19 billion disaster aid bill.

Texas Republican Chip Roy objected to speeding the measure through a nearly-empty chamber on Friday. He also complained that the bill does not contain any of President Donald Trump’s $4.5 billion request for dealing with a migrant refugee crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The House will return to the bill, perhaps as early as next week.

The relief measure would deliver money to Southern states suffering from last fall’s hurricanes, Midwestern states deluged with springtime floods and fire-ravaged rural California, among others. Puerto Rico would also get help for hurricane recovery, ending a months-long dispute between Trump and powerful Democrats.

Tags: disaster relief  Politics  Georgia