Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) administration used $4 million in state emergency funds to help transport more than 270 Americans over the weekend out of Israel while the nation engages in war with Hamas.
“All in all, we’re probably sitting right around $4 million on that particular flight with all of the services, hotel stays, rental cars — anything that we had to get to help the people get back to their homes,” Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said in a Wednesday interview with NewsNation.
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The flight was coordinated by Project Dynamo and funded by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. DeSantis himself greeted 271 Americans, 91 of whom were children, when they arrived from Israel following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7.
"[The flight] has landed, over 260 people that wanted to get back to the United States that couldn't do it," DeSantis said Sunday. "There was a void of leadership, so we stepped up and led. We're happy to be able to deliver. So we're getting ready to welcome them back to the United States of America."
On Oct. 13, State Department-chartered planes and boats began to carry U.S. citizens out of Israel, with the department telling Politico that more than 4,000 seats are available through Thursday. By federal law, however, passengers will eventually have to reimburse the government for the price of passage.
However, DeSantis and Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) have spent the last week organizing travel options of their own for free. Mills announced on Oct. 14 that his office has rescued 96 Americans so far, with plans to rescue more in the coming days. He secured a charter aircraft that can hold 218 passengers, Mills said, promising that it "will not cost anything" for Americans who wish to flee Israel.
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Mills lamented that taxpayers were expected to repay the Biden administration while about $113 billion has gone to aid Ukraine.
"My big thing is one U.S. congressman shouldn't be able to do more than the president of the United States with the whole of government supporting him," Mills said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. "If we hadn't done what we done, one, we'd still have maybe 100 Americans stranded with no strategy."