Among the worst hurricanes Florida has ever seen, Ian left much of the state underwater, and rescue efforts are ongoing.

Yet amid such tragedy and devastation, reports emerged recently suggesting that Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) hadn’t shown up to vote for a bill to open funding.

The Claim

In a tweet posted on October 19, 2022, lawyer Tristan Snell wrote: “When the Senate approved Florida’s disaster relief for Hurricane Ian, Marco Rubio did not even show up to vote.”

The tweet was liked more than 14,000 times and retweeted more than 5,000 times.

The Facts

It’s true that Rubio did not vote on a bill that provided relief funding for natural disasters like Hurricane Ian. However, the circumstances surrounding that decision ought to be noted.

An accompanying news release states the bill included a provision that would “allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to obligate up to the full year amount available under the continuing resolution for the Disaster Relief Fund if needed to respond to declared disasters such as Hurricane Ian in Florida, Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico and severe storm, flooding, and landslides in Alaska.”

In other words, FEMA would be able to access more funding through the Disaster Relief Fund, which has already provided $420 million to help Florida citizens affected by Hurricane Ian.

The bill does not mention Hurricane Ian specifically, just the grounds on which funding may be released.

So, the bill is more about creating access to disaster relief funding, and while Marco Rubio didn’t turn up to vote for it, it wasn’t only for Hurricane Ian; it was just one of the natural disasters that the rearrangement of disaster relief could have provided for.

The same bill also provided $12.35 billion toward Ukraine “including training, equipment, weapons, logistics support, and direct financial support for the government.”

The bill itself was put forward as a short-term funding vehicle to help avoid a government shutdown in the lead-up to December 2022. After it passed the Senate, House Republicans were encouraged to vote against it.

A spokesperson for Rubio said the senator missed the vote because he was touring hurricane damage when the vote occurred, referring to a press release published the day after.

Rubio has since requested $33 billion for Hurricane Ian recovery, stating “I plan to make sure our state receives the emergency relief it needs to fully rebuild.”

The senator was challenged by a CNN journalist about his opposition to disaster relief as he sought the new $33 billion package; Rubio claimed the funding he’d opposed before had been packaged in “with a bunch of things that had nothing to do with disaster relief.”.

The Ruling

Needs Context.

It is true that Marco Rubio didn’t turn up to vote for a bill that created improved access to funding for Hurricane Ian and similar disasters. A spokesman said it was because he was touring hurricane damage.

However, some context is necessary here. The bill also guaranteed U.S. government funding until December and included provisions for Ukraine. Rubio has said elsewhere that he would seek additional funds for Hurricane Ian relief, not through the bill.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check Team

Updated 12:40 p.m. ET, 10/20/22: This was updated with comments from a spokesman for Marco Rubio.