Democrat Cuomo, along with Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as well as the governors of Pennsylvania and North Carolina, say “federal assistance for the victims of storms and floods should be beyond politics”.

In an interview with public radio, Cuomo says he and his staff have helped victims of the floods caused by storms Irene and Lee to apply to FEMA for grants and other aid, but now all of those efforts are in limbo.

“It’s gotten caught up in politics and the gridlock like everything has, it seems, recently in Washington, and this is inexcusable,” said Cuomo. “This is the last issue  that they should play their politics with.”

Cuomo says the cash stripped State of New York does not have the hundreds of millions of dollars to make up for the FEMA funding, and he says the federal aid for some New Yorkers means the difference between living in a shelter, and moving back into their homes.