Cantor, 48, is pressing for Senate passage of a House spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which would provide an additional $1 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund in fiscal 2011, which ends Sept. 30, and $2.65 billion in fiscal 2012. That legislation cuts funding for advanced technology vehicles to offset the increase.

Commuter Rail Tunnel

The federal response to Irene drew praise for Obama and the U.S. government from Christie, who in the past cast doubt on the president's leadership and also rejected billions of federal dollars for a commuter rail tunnel.

"We're coordinating well with the federal government," Christie said in an Aug. 28 appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." The federal emergency staffers were "working incredibly hard at providing things to us that we need," he said.

By contrast, in October he canceled construction on a commuter rail tunnel to New York City from New Jersey, a project that had been championed by the state's two Democratic U.S. senators and whose cost estimate had ballooned to $14 billion from $8.7 billion.

New Jersey taxpayers couldn't afford the state's share of the project, Christie said.

Christie toured Paterson on Aug. 31 alongside Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security secretary and former Democratic governor of Arizona.

'Dealt With Crises'

"She's dealt with crises as a governor," Christie told reporters. "That's why it's so great to have someone like her in this position. I commend the president for choosing her."

The split over the urgency of budget offsets shows the difference between governors seeing firsthand the value of government services and lawmakers in Washington debating the details of spending matters, said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University in New Jersey.