Obama to Ask Congress for $50B

President Obama will be asking Congress to provide roughly $50 billion in emergency aid to the areas most affected by Hurricane Sandy. White House officials are putting the request together and say they expect to send it as early as this week. The administration may be in for a tough fight, given the standoff over the fiscal cliff. The request is less than initially expected—governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut wanted a total of $82 billion to deal with the storm’s aftermath. Republicans have suggested cutting the request into two segments, one that would be approved this year to address emergency needs, and one that would deal with long-term recovery next year.