Obama administration backs Senate supplemental

The Obama administration is backing a $58.8 billion emergency supplemental bill under consideration in the Senate to provide additional funding for the military, disaster aid and intelligence operations. 

"The administration appreciates that the bill includes many of the components of the president's request for funds that enable the response to the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to continue expeditiously, and urges the Congress to act swiftly to enact all elements of the request," according to a Statement of Administration Policy released Monday afternoon. 

The bill includes $5.1 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) for disasters nationwide. FEMA officials have said their disaster relief fund would run out of money by June without the supplemental funding. 

The measure provides $33.45 billion mainly for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, $2.8 billion for earthquake relief in Haiti, more than $6 billion to foreign intelligence and operations and $13.4 billion in mandatory spending for the Veterans Affairs Department for illnesses related to Agent Orange. 

The House Appropriations Committee is marking up a bill Thursday that will provide for war funding and other issues that as-of-yet are unannounced.