President Trump signed a long-delayed disaster aid bill into law on Thursday, authorizing billions of dollars of assistance to communities in the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico recovering from devastating storms, floods and wildfires.
By approving the $19.1 billion package, the president ended months of gridlock between his administration and congressional Democrats, who first introduced a version of the legislation in January.
Versions of the legislation stalled in Congress for months, as Republican lawmakers were initially wary of supporting additional hurricane recovery funding for Puerto Rico, which Mr. Trump vehemently opposed until recently. Additionally, three lone Republican congressmen blocked the legislation from passing earlier this month while most lawmakers in the House were in their home districts.
