Washington’s budget battle threatens to hinder the recovery from Hurricane Irene, as a top Republican said on Monday that any federal aid will have to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere, Reuters reported.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said in a television interview: “Yes, there’s a federal role; yes, we’re going to find the money. We’re just going to make sure that there are savings elsewhere.”

Democrats who oversee disaster funding in the Senate said they won’t cut other programs to boost emergency aid.

“It makes no sense to cut programs that help respond to future disasters in order to pay for emergencies that have already occurred,” Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said in a prepared statement.

Officials in President Barack Obama’s administration said they had no estimate of the storm’s cost and were still assessing the damage, but other elected officials and companies have indicated it will probably amount to billions of dollars. The administration will likely have to ask Congress for additional funding at a time when lawmakers are debating further budget cuts.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has suspended funding for some rebuilding programs from earlier disasters to ensure that its disaster-relief fund will not run out of money, according to agency administrator Craig Fugate.

This year has been one of the most extreme for weather in U.S. history, with $35 billion in losses so far from floods, tornadoes and heat waves.