making a push to help those hit by harvey as congress is getting ready to return to capitol hill on tuesday. two republican sources tell nbc news the white house is expected to send an initial request for at least $5.5 billion in aid. likely going to be split $5 billion going to fema, disaster relief, 500 million going to a small business loan fund. the small businesses sometimes don t have the extra cash flow they need to do the stuff to get back up to speed. leaders in congress are hopeful that lawmakers will push the divisions aside to get this done. remember they couldn t get that done for sandy for a couple of months. they also need to pass an aid bill that would lift the debt ceiling. the deal is seeing some pushback, it sent the wrong message, the harvey relief would pass on its own and to use it as a vehicle to get people to vote for a debt ceiling is not appropriate. editor at large john harwood joins us now. is harvey going to unite lawmakers? we re looking at the potential
business this year. the president suggesting or proposing small business tax breaks in his state of the union address. those tax breaks were included in the 2011 budget the president unveiled yesterday even though they would apply this year and, in fact, would raise the 2010 budget deficit. republicans say there should have been more tax breaks and less government spending in the stimulus package. the white house says the economy is just now getting to the point that small businesses are better able to use the tax breaks, and press secretary robert gibbs says the president now with these tax breaks and this small business loan fund is really proposing something focused on small businesses that is a test for republicans, he says it s a test for republican bipartisanship because these are the kinds of programs they ve been calling for. jane: wendell, thanks. jon: it has been nearly a year since a horrifying crash in buffalo killed 49 people onboard
archema chemical plant. the evacuation of people living within a mile and a half of the plant. meanwhile, there are signs that help is on the way from the president and the administration. fema says they have already approved 100,000 requests, totaling $15 million of individual assistance. two republican congressional sources tell nbc news that the trump administration is likely to ask for $5.5 billion at first. that is expected to be split between the fema disaster relief fund and a small business loan fund. there was hope that passing a bill could be included with the debt ceiling, but sources say that fema is burning through the cash they have so fast they may not be able to wait until late september for more help. yesterday the vice president toured corpus christi, and even helped clear brush. he assured texans more help was coming. i think karen and i today were most inspired by the