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On Wednesday, Donald Trump’s administration denied Maryland’s request for FEMA aid to deal with the fallout of devastating floods in May, continuing the administration’s disturbing trend of denying disaster aid to states led by Democrats.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, denounced the administration’s determination that the aid is “not warranted.” In a social media video, Moore vowed to appeal the decision and said the federal government is effectively telling residents of western Maryland — where many are still coping with the effects of the flooding — “you’re on your own.”
After the recent deadly flooding in Texas, Trump and his administration promised, and ultimately approved, FEMA aid for the Republican-controlled state. In the time since, FEMA’s response there has received criticism — including from the agency’s now-former head of urban search and rescue operations, who just resigned in disgust.
But the fact that Texas received a promise of FEMA aid at all was noteworthy. As I wrote at the time, it was a markedly different stance than the one Trump’s administration has taken with numerous states led by Democratic governors — such as North Carolina, Washington and California — who’ve had their requests for federal assistance denied.
Trump has sought to effectively shutter FEMA and force states to handle the financial burden of natural disasters on their own. But in the meantime, the denial of funds to Maryland is yet more evidence that the administration sees FEMA as a political tool for aiding its allies and harming its perceived foes — leaving Americans’ lives and livelihoods hanging in the balance.