Spending bill would slash disaster relief to fund Trump’s border wall

By Alan Fram and Andrew Taylor, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Disaster relief after Harvey-caused epic flooding in Texas tops an already crowded agenda when President Donald Trump meets next week with House and Senate leaders at the White House.

Lawmakers return from the August break facing multiple legislative deadlines and a need to replenish dwindling disaster aid coffers. One of the first items in the House is a massive spending bill that would slash almost $1 billion from disaster accounts to help finance Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall. That disaster relief cut appears sure to be reversed as floodwaters cover Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, and more than 17,000 Texans have sought refuge in shelters.

Harvey aid is a fresh addition to an agenda already packed with must-do tasks: Passing a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown; increasing the government’s borrowing authority to prevent a market-quaking default on U.S. obligations; and paving the way for a GOP rewrite of the…