Texas seems to have broken up the logjam. Federal response to
some other disasters is belatedly and slowly inching forward, months later.
Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency moved quickly to support Texas, approving Abbott’s disaster declaration the next day.
And the robust response to the flooding in Texas contrasts sharply with delays faced by other states that have sustained deadly floods and other disasters this year, FEMA staff and state disaster officials say.
Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia had been waiting since the spring for the federal government to approve their requests for assistance, with some governors continuously pushing the White House for answers.
Then, in a flurry of Truth Social posts Tuesday evening, Trump announced he had signed disaster declarations for those four states, freeing up millions of dollars in federal aid. [In some cases, only part of the request is being approved.]
At least six states and two Native American tribes are still waiting for the president and FEMA to approve their requests for disaster response and recovery assistance. Critical services such as temporary housing, unemployment assistance, search-and-rescue crews and debris removal are also on hold because of bureaucratic obstacles at the Department of Homeland Security, according to FEMA staffers, state disaster declaration requests and internal agency data obtained by The Washington Post.
Shortly after the publication of this article, Oregon and New Mexico officially received their disaster declarations, according to documents seen by The Post.
“FEMA is built to move fast when lives and infrastructure are on the line,” said a FEMA official with extensive experience in disaster response. “But it can’t do that if our highest levels of elected leadership treat disasters as inconvenient — or worse, as inconsistent with a selected narrative.”
State and local governments and struggling residents in ... Maryland, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California continue to wait for financial assistance and other resources to help them rebuild and pay for medical aid, funerals, first aid kits, infant formula, diapers and hotels, according to FEMA data and state disaster declarations obtained by The Post.
Many of the delays [in funding particular expenses] stem from a new policy requiring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem to approve all FEMA expenses over $100,000.
According to the FEMA data, officials have been filling out multiple, redundant memo templates to justify needed services, leaving notes detailing the dire consequences of ignoring the requests. In many cases, staffers then hand-deliver the memos to the office of acting FEMA administrator David Richardson, so he can forward them to Noem.
“This isn’t just bureaucracy — it’s a system stall. Communities are waiting while their declaration requests collect dust,” said the FEMA official, who has responded to 20 disasters. “That kind of delay doesn’t happen by accident — it happens when things upstream are broken, sidelined or intentionally buried.”
