Speaker Johnson rips ‘lack of leadership’ in Biden admin's Helene response: 'alarmed and disappointed'

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EXCLUSIVE: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is criticizing the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene while warning the price tag for its recovery could be "one of the most expensive" the U.S. has seen.

"There were some pretty ominous projections, and so Congress acted appropriately," Johnson told Fox News Digital Friday evening, noting lawmakers freed up roughly $20 billion in immediate funding for FEMA in last month’s short-term federal funding bill. "But, so far, [President Biden, Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas] have failed in that response."

Johnson said he was "alarmed and disappointed" by Biden officials’ comments immediately after the storm suggesting FEMA was too low on funds to deal with Helene’s wrath.

Mayorkas said "we are meeting the immediate needs" of the hurricane earlier this week but said "FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season."

NORTH CAROLINA REELING FROM DEVASTATING HELENE AS DEATH TOLL CLIMBS: ‘NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS’

Biden suggested earlier this week he may want Congress to return for an emergency session to pass a supplemental disaster aid bill.

"They are scrambling to cover their egregious errors and mistakes. And there's an effort to blame others or blame circumstances when this is just purely a lack of leadership and response," the speaker said. He noted