“Our number one priority is to continue working with state and local officials to address the remaining unmet needs of those affected by natural disasters,” the spokesman said. “In regards to any disaster funding, no determination has been made on programming or allocations of remaining funds.”

The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act — the $60 billion relief package passed in 2013 —includes $16 billion in Community Development Funds, although that total was trimmed to $15.2 billion because of last year’s sequestration. The bill states that the money should be used for expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from major disasters. But the bill also says that the money can be used not only for Sandy relief, but for other federally declared disasters that occurred in 2011, 2012 or 2013.

The Senators said that CDBG funds were specifically set aside with the intention of meeting housing needs in New York state, New York City and New Jersey. With homeowners still getting back on their feet, Schumer explained, Sandy funding should not be redirected to other states until all Sandy victims’ needs are met.

However, the HUD spokesman said that $1 billion of the $15.2 billion in CDBG money has already gone to areas outside the Sandy region that were struck by natural disasters, among them Joplin, Mo., which suffered a catastrophic tornado in 2011, and communities in Colorado that were impacted by mudslides last fall. He said that $10.5 billion has gone to the region impacted by Sandy, leaving about $3.5 billion left to be distributed.

“All of these allocations have been made with public announcements and, up until now, members of Congress have not taken issue with using the funds in this manner,” the spokesman wrote in an email.