Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the state’s entire congressional delegation called on President Trump to reverse his administration’s decision to deny the governor’s request for federal disaster assistance following deadly storms in the region.
After tornadoes ripped through Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri, killing over 40 people last month, Ms. Sanders requested assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The agency denied her request.
Ms. Sanders served as the president’s press secretary during his first term and has remained a loyal supporter. Her request, which was backed by Arkansas’ entirely GOP congressional delegation, is one of the rare times that Republicans have publicly disputed the denial of federal disaster aid.
It also comes on the heels of steps taken by Mr. Trump through executive action to shift more of the financial responsibility for disaster recovery onto the states rather than the federal government and followed a promise by Homeland Security Secretary Krisit Noem to dismantle FEMA.
Following the initial denial, Ms. Sanders sent a letter on April 18 directly to her former boss.
“Arkansas communities are still recovering from this spring’s tornadoes, as the sheer magnitude of this event resulted in overwhelming amounts of debris, widespread destruction to homes and businesses, the tragic loss of three lives, and injuries to many others,” she said. “To relieve the burden on these counties, cities and towns, I am appealing FEMA’s decision to deny Arkansas’ Major Disaster Declaration request.”
The Washington Times reached out to FEMA for comment.
Ms. Sanders’ appeal was followed on April 21 by another request to Mr. Trump.
This time the Arkansas congressional delegation, led by Sen. John Boozman, noted that Arkansas was hit by more tornadoes and a “generational flood event” following the initial mid-March storms.
“Sadly, these compounding disasters impacted many of the same counties, adding more catastrophic debris and causing the loss of three more Arkansans,” the lawmakers said. “Given the cumulative impact and sheer magnitude of destruction from these severe weather events, federal assistance is vital to ensure that state and local communities have the capabilities needed to rebuild.”
The lawmakers also requested an extension to draft a similar disaster request for the flooding and storms that followed the tornadoes in March.
Arkansas is not the only state that has been denied disaster aid from FEMA this year. Both Washington and North Carolina, states led by Democratic governors, were similarly rejected.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson requested a major disaster declaration after the state was hit by a series of storms, including what’s called a bomb cyclone, in November. FEMA denied the money, which would have assisted with much of the roughly $34 million in damage caused by the storms.
Mr. Ferguson argued in a statement that there are clear criteria that must be met to qualify for emergency relief funds and that Washington “met all of them.”
FEMA recently denied a request from North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein to extend the agency’s coverage of 100% of the cost of debris removal and emergency protective measures, which was set to expire on March 27.
North Carolina was one of many states slammed by Hurricane Helene last year and became a campaign stop in the waning days of the election for Mr. Trump to harp against the Biden administration’s handling of the disaster response.
A FEMA official said in a letter denying the request that an extension to cover all of the costs was “not warranted.” The agency later said it would cover 90% rather than the standard 75%.
