Trump overrode his own agencies to deny four Democratic disaster requests
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/29/fema-democratic-disaster-requests-trump-01013938
Trump overrode his own agencies to deny four Democratic disaster requests
President Donald Trump cast aside bipartisan precedent when he rejected eligible disaster requests from four blue states.
07/29/2026 04:45 AM EDT
President Donald Trump overruled his own agencies when he denied disaster aid for four Democratic-led states this month.
Emails between state and federal officials obtained by POLITICO along with more than 150 pages of documents submitted to FEMA by three states — New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — provide new details about Trump’s low rate of approving disaster aid for his political adversaries. He also denied a request by New York after administration officials verified that it had met federal standards for approval, according to state officials.
Trump’s rejections came after regional offices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and NOAA determined that the states met government thresholds for receiving aid following a record-breaking snowstorm in February.
“The Blizzard of 2026 certainly achieved a pinnacle ranking in the memories of those who experienced it and climatologically in the historical rankings of snowstorms,” said a NOAA report confirming Rhode Island met the requirement for disaster aid.
Presidents retain sole authority over granting federal disaster aid to states, but it’s highly unusual to deny a governor’s request after FEMA field offices have verified that damage estimates exceeded preestablished levels, according to a former agency official who worked under Republican and Democratic administrations.
“I can’t think of a time a declaration was denied” for a state that met FEMA and NOAA standards, said the former FEMA official who was granted anonymity to speak about internal decision making.
The emails and documents, which haven’t previously been reported, shed new light on Trump’s decisions to reject an overwhelming number of requests for disaster aid from Democratic-led states, even as he has approved nearly 90 percent of requests from states that are governed by members of his own party. The revelations also offer a fuller picture of Trump’s tenure over the most partisan distribution of FEMA aid since the agency was created in 1979.
Trump’s recent rejections involving snow diverge from the actions of other presidents, including Trump in his first term, who routinely approved similar requests from governors of opposing parties.
Presidents since George W. Bush approved all 69 state requests for snow assistance that met FEMA standards except for a 2016 request from New Mexico, which was being investigated for mishandling FEMA funds, according to a POLITICO analysis of agency records.
The
four states sought $227 million in aid altogether after the paralyzing
February storm dumped record snowfall over areas of the East Coast,
leading to unprecedented snow-removal costs. POLITICO obtained the
emails and state documents through open records requests submitted to
New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. New York officials said
federal agencies also validated their request for aid, but POLITICO
could not independently confirm that.
The Trump administration defended its denials. Neither FEMA or a White House spokesperson answered questions about why the states’ requests were rejected after meeting federal thresholds that historically have triggered the disbursement of aid.
“There is no politicization to the President’s decisions on disaster relief,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. Trump handles disaster requests “with great care” to ensure state aid is used “to supplement — not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.”
FEMA has paid roughly $850 million in snow assistance since 1999. Eighty-two percent has gone to states that are now led by Democrats — having a governor and two senators from the Democratic Party. Six percent went to Republican-led states.
The disparity is largely the result of Democrats holding power in snowy regions where aid is requested such as New England and the mid-Atlantic.
States met federal guidelines — but were still rejected
Snow assistance was targeted for elimination last year in a memo by FEMA leadership as a way to reduce spending. Congress pushed back on that idea — a signal the administration may have disregarded.
“If the federal government is paying for regular operations like snow removal, what next? Garbage removal?” a FEMA spokesperson said in a statement about the recent denials. “The federal government’s role is not to fund routine functions.”
Officials in Rhode Island and Massachusetts did not respond to requests for comment.
“Without
that aid, our local governments will be stuck with the costs of an
unprecedented snowstorm that didn’t care about political boundaries,”
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement to POLITICO.
Matt Janiszewski, a spokesperson for the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul believes “disaster relief should not be political.”
“New York State exceeded both the financial damages and snowfall thresholds necessary to receive a Major Disaster Declaration for February’s blizzard, and we will be appealing the decision,” Janiszewski said.
A 1997 federal regulation aims to prevent FEMA from funding cleanup after routine snowstorms by making assistance available “only for cases of record or near record snowstorms.” Snow depth is to be determined by “official government records.”
The blizzard that slammed the East Coast in late February broke historical records in each of the three states. For example, it dropped 37.9 inches in 24 hours on Rhode Island, according to the National Weather Service, an arm of NOAA whose data is used by FEMA field offices to help verify state damage estimates.
Other regulations require FEMA to assess disaster damage jointly with the state requesting the money. The estimate is then used to make recommendations to the president about whether disaster aid is warranted. FEMA sets a cost threshold for each state and typically suggests approving disaster aid when the level is met or surpassed.
“Simply having record or near-record snowfall does not automatically qualify a state or community for federal aid if the overall impact and damages do not meet the necessary criteria,” FEMA said in its statement.
On April 3, FEMA’s New England regional office approved an estimate showing that Rhode Island easily met its cost threshold, according to the emails.
“FEMA has completed validations for the Rhode Island February 22-23 Severe Winter Storm Preliminary Damage Assessment,” Alex Johnston, a FEMA emergency management specialist, wrote to Lawrence Macedo, a senior official with the state’s emergency management agency.
The “total validated amount,” Johnston wrote, was $19,305,057.13 — the exact figure Gov. Dan McKee had included in his April 7 letter to Trump requesting disaster aid.
The damage figure is nine times higher than FEMA’s $2.1 million cost threshold for Rhode Island.
McKee told Trump that snow-removal costs “exhausted available resources, including personnel, equipment, and budgeted emergency funds.” Quoting federal law, he added, “Effective response and recovery exceed the capabilities of the State and affected local governments.”
McKee also attached 33 pages of documentation by NOAA showing that the storm shattered snowfall records in each of the state’s five counties, surpassing the regulatory snowfall requirement.
In May, as Trump considered McKee’s request, NOAA published a news release headlined, “Rhode Island Receives New 24-Hour State Snowfall Record.”
“Another case of the White House putting politics ahead of people,” McKee said after Trump rejected his request. McKee appealed the decision.
Other governors sent Trump similar evidence supporting their aid requests.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey included an eight-page NOAA report showing snowfall records were set in three of the state’s 14 counties. She also sent a “validated Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment” by the state and FEMA showing $45 million in snowstorm-related costs — mostly for snow removal.
FEMA’s cost threshold for Massachusetts is $13.6 million.
Sherrill attached a 16-page NOAA report showing snowfall records in seven New Jersey counties. A 12-page spreadsheet developed by the state and FEMA documented $84.4 million in costs — mostly for snow removal.
FEMA’s cost threshold for New Jersey is $18 million.
The federal agency did not respond to questions about whether it disputed the information it received from the states.
Hochul, a Democrat, also requested snow assistance for the February storm. The state said FEMA and New York validated $79 million in snowstorm costs — double the threshold for the state. The request was denied.
‘Truly extraordinary events’
The recent requests mirror appeals for snow assistance during previous administrations.
When Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was North Dakota’s Republican governor and sought snow assistance after a 2022 storm, he included a NOAA report documenting snowfall records and a spreadsheet showing $1.7 million in storm damage — just above the state’s FEMA threshold. Then-President Joe Biden approved Burgum’s request in 23 days.
FEMA is now suggesting that it would be more difficult for states to receive federal help after snowstorms, even if they break records.
“Federal assistance is reserved for truly extraordinary events that overwhelm local and state capabilities,” FEMA said in its statement. “States that regularly experience snow should plan and handle these activities as part of their regular operations.”
FEMA noted that Trump approved snow assistance last month for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which it said “is in Massachusetts, a ‘blue’ state.” The federally recognized tribe is a sovereign nation.
Erica Bornemann, who ran Vermont Emergency Management from 2017 to 2023, said federal assistance helps states prioritize snow removal — and potentially save lives. FEMA reimburses states for 75 percent of eligible costs.
“The basis of providing support for snow removal is because you’re removing snow that’s causing a health and safety hazard to the public,” Bornemann said, adding that snowstorms can strand drivers, block roads and cut off access to hospitals.
In a memo to the White House Office of Management and Budget last year, FEMA’s top political appointee at the time said Trump could “deny major disaster declarations for snowstorms” to save federal dollars. The memo, obtained by POLITICO, listed four other policy changes that would cut FEMA spending, none of which are likely to have a partisan tilt.
The author, Cameron Hamilton, then-FEMA’s acting administrator, was fired after clashing with his boss, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, over other issues.
But the memo by Hamilton, whom Trump recently nominated to be FEMA’s permanent administrator, shows the difficulty of eliminating entrenched federal aid programs.
The Senate Appropriations Committee said in a report last year that it “reaffirms Congress’ intent … that snowstorms shall be eligible for Federal disaster relief.”
Chair Susan Collins, a Republican, is from Maine, which has received roughly $20 million in FEMA snow assistance.
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