Hurricanes, wildfires and floods. Trump will gut FEMA so you’re on your own in a natural disaster.
In normal times, FEMA activation occurs when the President issues a disaster declaration in response to a natural disaster.[1] No politics are involved. But there are no “normal” times under the ex-president.
The Trump playbook calls for an “end to SBA [Small Business Administration] direct lending.”[2] Aid for families and business rebuilding after natural disasters would essentially disappear.[3]
A second trump administration would also change FEMA funding criteria, calling for jurisdictions who request disaster relief to “meet certain [unspecified] pre-conditions … or be considered ineligible for funding.”[4]
People trying to survive a natural disaster and putting their lives together in its aftermath should not be held hostage by the political whims of a second Trump administration.
Is a state that requires background checks for all purchases of firearms ineligible? What if the state declines sharing its voter rolls with the Department of Justice? Does a flooded town have to demonstrate compliance before it receives lifesaving aid?
Communities would also be ineligible for FEMA aid unless they meet arbitrary “deductibles.” There would also be new tiers of funding based on the nature of the disaster.[5] Would a community suffering a “small” disaster, whatever that is, receive reduced funding – possibly as little as 25% in federal support?
Politics has no place in helping the American people when they are most in need.
[2] Project 2025: The Mandate for Leadership, p. 750
[3] https://www.americanprogress.org/article/project-2025-proposes-eliminating-aid-for-families-and-businesses-rebuilding-after-storms/
[4] Project 2025: The Mandate for Leadership, p.137
[5] https://www.theparadiseprogressive.com/blog-the-paradise-progressive/project-2025-remake-of-fema-would-hit-communities-hard-after-disasters
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