The Department of Housing and Urban Development will allow Puerto Rico to access more than $8 billion in blocked disaster aid funding, ending a monthslong hold by the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter.

Puerto Rico, which suffered devastating losses from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, has received just $1.5 billion of the roughly $20 billion in congressionally authorized disaster funds that HUD is supposed to administer. The delay in receiving the additional funds had incensed both U.S. lawmakers and commonwealth officials.

The island will be able to access the latest tranche — $8.2 billion in disaster mitigation money — once a Federal Register notice is published outlining the grant agreement and how the money can be used. HUD blew past the legal deadline to publish the funding notice in September, saying it needed to ensure financial safeguards were put in place in light of recent political unrest on the island.

“Now that a full financial monitoring team is assembled and active, we can move forward with confidence that these disaster recovery funds will reach those who need them the most,” a HUD official told POLITICO.

Res. Cmmsr. Jenniffer González of Puerto Rico cheered the news late Tuesday.

“We’ve been fighting for this for many months so I’m happy that finally [the Office of Management and Budget] and HUD approved the notification,” she said, adding that she had discussed the issue with President Donald Trump on Friday.

Puerto Rico needs the aid “now more than ever after the earthquakes” that have rocked the island in recent weeks, Gonzalez said. “It’s the best news in months,” she added.

Democrats had cranked up the pressure on the White House to release the money in the wake of the earthquakes, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California on Thursday calling on administration officials to “cease and desist that illegal activity."

The White House declined to comment.