The administration of US President Donald Trump has asked Congress for nearly $8 billion dollars for Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts as Trump prepares to travel to the US Gulf Coast for second time to meet victims of one of the worst natural disasters in US history.
The formal request for $7.85 billion came Friday in a letter from White House budget director Mick Mulvaney to US House of Representative Speaker Paul Ryan.
The initial amount requested for Harvey relief was higher than the $5.95 billion figure Trump administration officials proposed earlier in the day.
The bulk of the initial request will go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is rapidly running out of funds as the primary agency handling disaster relief.
The Trump administration is expected to make subsequent funding requests to help in the multi-billion dollar rebuilding effort that will need to take place in Texas and Louisiana.
Texas Governor Greg…