- In a tweet on Sunday, Matt Gaetz asked Congress to send financial aid to Florida.
- Gaetz said he was asking for help “on behalf of my fellow Florida Man in grave need of assistance.”
- Gaetz was among the 201 Republicans who voted no to a bill that carved out cash for FEMA.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz is calling for the US to send aid to Floridians in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian — but he also voted “no” to a bill that carved out cash for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to do just that.
In a tweet on Sunday, Gaetz appealed for help after Hurricane Ian battered Florida. Ian was a Category 4 storm when it made landfall and pummeled the Florida coast, killing at least 76 people.
“Dear Congress: On behalf of my fellow Florida Man in grave need of assistance…. Just send us like half of what you sent Ukraine. Signed, Your Fellow Americans,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter.
Gaetz’s appeal for funding came two days after he — and 200 other Republicans — voted against a stopgap measure that sought to fund the government through December. Among other provisions, the bill also gave $18.8 billion to FEMA’s disaster relief fund, $12 billion in aid for Ukraine, and $112 million to beef up security at federal courts.
Speaking on the House floor in support of the bill last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that passing the bill would free up disaster recovery funding that would “go toward supporting Florida as well as Puerto Rico, Alaska and other communities hit by disaster.”