Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, said Wednesday she hopes Congress “puts politics aside” and quickly approves funding for Harvey disaster relief.
“We hope that Congress will focus on the President’s priority, which is to connect the people in need with the money and the resources that they require to get immediate help but also to rebuild their lives,” Conway told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
Cuomo praised the intention to not play politics with emergency relief funding, but cited criticism lodged at a number of Trump’s Cabinet members who as lawmakers voted against the 2013 Hurricane Sandy relief bill.
“They voted against what they saw as a pork-laden bill that included many other things,” Conway responded. “I saw one was for a car for a Inspector General, another was to revamp some building — but this is about getting money to the people.”
Cuomo asserted that claims of the Sandy bill being filled with pork have been proven false.
Cuomo pressed Conway to answer how the President would avoid the same funding pitfalls that occurred after Hurricane Sandy.
“The money will be there,” she said. “We hope that Republicans and Democrats will come together and not politicize this.”
Cuomo went on to ask Conway about whether the Trump administration would be open to a conversation about whether or not climate change had an impact on the storm and flooding.
Conway appeared frustrated with the question as she replied, “Chris, we’re trying to help the people whose lives are literally underwater, and you want to have a conversation about climate change?”
Conway went on to tout the administration’s focus and commitment to helping the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
“I work for a President and a vice president and a country that is very focused on the millions of affected Texans and god forbid Louisianans,” she said. “I’m going to focus on them in the short-term, perhaps the long-term.”
Cuomo responded, “Good, you should. But it doesn’t mean you do that to the exclusion to the question of why storms happen. At some point, that could be part of the conversation.”
