Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has asked the department’s inspector general to open a financial investigation into the Puerto Rican agency set to get over $8 billion in disaster relief funds.
Carson, while eager to release the money dating back to the 2017 Hurricane Maria, first wants to make sure that Puerto Rico’s Departamento de la Vivienda, or housing department, hasn’t misused taxpayer funded money before giving it more, according to officials.
Also, the administration wants Puerto Rico to provide it with a blueprint for how it plans to spend the money before it gets it.
The administration, under fire from Democrats for holding up the disaster aid, has accused Puerto Rico of vast corruption. Pushing back on a recent attack from Democrats, President Trump tweeted about Puerto Rico, “The pols are grossly incompetent, spend the money foolishly or corruptly, & only take from USA…”
Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before, & all their local politicians do is complain & ask for more money. The pols are grossly incompetent, spend the money foolishly or corruptly, & only take from USA….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2019
A senior White House official told Secrets, “Due to the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico is on track to receive a historic level of federal disaster funding. Given the ongoing leadership changes within the Puerto Rican government, combined with continued concern over Puerto Rico’s history of fiscal irregularities and mismanagement, the Trump Administration refuses to write a blank check and requires strict oversight on the usage of taxpayer funds.”
Carson’s call is holding up the release of $8.2 billion in Community Development Block Grant Program disaster recovery grants. Congress has called for the release of the money approved in June by Sept. 4. Carson released the funds to nine states and the U.S. Virgin Islands also impacted by twin 2017 hurricanes.
The White House official said, “It’s not fair to punish Florida, California, or Texas from receiving natural disaster relief because of the countless mismanagement and corruption events happening in Puerto Rico.”
House Appropriation Committee Democrats on Monday demanded the release of the aid to Puerto Rico and have called for a hearing into Carson’s management of the money.
But Carson and the administration first want to make sure that the funds won’t be squandered.
A senior HUD official told Secrets, “We are committed to helping all Americans get back on their feet after they endure devastating storms. That is clearly indicated by our decision to release mitigation notices for all other jurisdictions, which received appropriations within the statutory deadline. However, given legitimate concerns with Puerto Rico and ongoing probes to that effect, we feel compelled to refrain from publishing the mitigation notice or entering into any grant agreements with them at this time.”
The administration also questioned the rush from Democrats to release the additional billions. Officials said that the island’s government hasn’t spent money already set aside. They said that Puerto Rico has access to $1.5 billion in disaster relief money but has spent only $1 million.
Newly installed Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced is in Washington this week meeting with Carson, the White House budget director Russell Vought, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
She replaced former Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló who resigned in a scandal.
