The Hill News

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who controversially demanded that Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funding be tied to federal budget cuts first, is pressing the agency to provide a timeline for disaster aid to victims of the August earthquake in his Virginia district.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Cantor held a conference call Friday with FEMA and county officials to press the government officials to provide more information on when and how disaster aid would be coming. He has also lobbied Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on behalf of his district.

FEMA's budget has been in turmoil this month as Democrats and Republicans bickered over stopg! ap funding for the agency's emergency relief fund. Republicans have demanded that additional funding be offset by cuts in other areas of the federal budget, while Democrats argued that the relief effort merited additional deficit spending.

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