Kicking Puerto Rico to the curb

The federal government provided additional food-stamp aid to Puerto Rico after the hurricane, but Congress missed the deadline for reauthorization in March as it focused on other issues before leaving for a week-long recess. Federal lawmakers have also been stalled by the Trump administration, which has derided the extra aid as unnecessary.

Now, about 43 percent of Puerto Rico’s residents are grappling with a sudden cut to a benefit they rely on for groceries and other essentials.

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Congressional lawmakers knew of the deadlines for months. In January, House Democrats approved $600 million in additional food-stamp funding to finance the program until the fall, but the bill immediately stalled in the Senate, with the Trump administration releasing a letter calling the additional food-stamp aid “excessive and unnecessary.”

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And while Congress may address this issue soon, the lapse underscores the broader vulnerability of Puerto Rico’s economy, as well as key parts of its safety net, to the whims of an increasingly hostile federal government with which it has feuded over key priorities.

Puerto Rico will again need the federal government’s help to stave off drastic cuts to Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor and disabled, as well as for the disbursement of billions in hurricane relief aid that has not yet been turned over to the island.

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For states, the federal government has committed to funding those programs’ needs, whatever the cost and without needing to take a vote. But Puerto Rico instead funds its programs through a block grant from the federal government, which needs to be regularly renewed, and also gives food-stamp benefits about 40 percent smaller than those of states.

After initially vowing to reject the food-stamp funding, President Trump has agreed to the emergency request to help Senate Republicans pass a broader disaster-relief package, which may be taken up for a vote this week.

But at an Oval Office meeting on Feb. 22, Trump asked top advisers for ways to limit federal support from going to Puerto Rico, believing it is taking money that should be going to the mainland.

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The meeting — an afternoon session focused on Department of Housing and Urban Development grants — ended abruptly, and Trump has continued to ask aides how much money the island will get. Then, Trump said he wanted the money only to fortify the electric grid there.

Trump has also privately signaled he will not approve any additional help for Puerto Rico beyond the food-stamp money, setting up a congressional showdown with Democrats who have pushed for more expansive help for the island.

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A senior administration official with direct knowledge of the meeting described Trump’s stance: “He doesn’t want another single dollar going to the island.”

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Trump sees the island as fundamentally broken and has told advisers that no amount of money will ever fix its systemic problems.

He describes in meetings that large swaths of the island never had power to begin with and that it is “ridiculous” how much money is going to Puerto Rico in food-stamp aid, according to the senior official. He has occasionally groused about how ungrateful political officials in Puerto Rico were for the administration’s help, the official said.

  WaPo

And THAT's the key.

Since then, aides have described a president who regularly brings up the island to make sure it is not getting too much money. Current and former officials say Trump often complains in meetings that Puerto Rico does not even know how to spend the money the island has been allocated.

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Additionally, Trump administration officials who defended the island — Tom Bossert, the former homeland security adviser, and Pam Patenaude, the former deputy HUD secretary — are no longer in the administration. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s acting chief of staff, has also been critical of how the island has spent its money.

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“The problems of Puerto Rico have a root-cause problem attached to it: We don’t have political power and are not treated as equal citizens,” said Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rico’s governor, noting the island does not elect voting members of Congress (though it does elect a non-sitting member) or have a general-election vote in U.S. presidential races. “Maria has crystallized and enhanced this sense of powerlessness.”