WASHINGTON — Puerto Rico will receive more than $8 billion in Hurricane Maria recovery money withheld during former President Donald Trump’s tenure and have “onerous” restrictions removed over how it can access and spend a larger pool of disaster relief money, the White House said on Monday.
The combined moves are the latest actions from President Joe Biden’s administration to broadly reset the federal government’s relationship with the territory, releasing billions of dollars of financial aid years after it had been approved by Congress.
Marcia Fudge, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in a statement, “The actions taken by HUD today will unlock access to funds Puerto Rico needs to recover from past disasters and build resilience to future storms, while ensuring transparency and accountability.”
