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Trump's Delay of Funds, FEMA Staffing Cuts Hindered Alaska Flood Response
Trump waited nearly a week to deploy federal resources to help with flood rescue and recovery. One emergency management expert called it "absolutely insane."
Oct 27, 2025
A nearly weeklong funding delay by President Donald Trump, as well as cuts to federal weather forecasting personnel, likely exacerbated the devastation caused by the historic storm that hit Alaska earlier this month, a report from The Guardian revealed on Monday.
On October 12, the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, a remote area in southwestern Alaska which is home to about 20,000 Yup’ik Alaska Natives, was hit by one of the worst storms in its history—one that, Rick Thoman, a meteorologist and climate expert at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, explains was caused by a the remnants of a typhoon "likely fueled by the Pacific’s near-record warm surface temperatures this fall."
More than 2,000 people have now been forced to evacuate the region, with hundreds now taking shelter in a sports stadium on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus after being airlifted to safety by the Alaska National Guard. According to Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R), it could be more than 18 months before the survivors are able to return due to the severity of the damage.
On October 16, Dunleavy sent a request for Trump to issue a federal disaster declaration, which would free up around $25 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). That money would be used to clear debris, carry out protection and rescue operations, and shield roads, bridges, and other infrastructure from damage. It would also distribute funds to survivors of the storm to help them rebuild their homes and lives in the aftermath of the disaster.
"This incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments, and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster," the request said.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) wrote in a follow-up to Dunleavy's request the following day: "With winter fast approaching, and transportation and broadband connectivity limited, there is an urgent need for federal aid to repair housing, restore utilities, and secure heating fuel before severe winter conditions set in."
Trump would not approve the request until October 22—keeping the essential funding frozen for nearly a full week.
As the wait went on, Dr. Samantha Montano, a professor of emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, wrote on social media that the delay was "directly keeping funding out of the hands of disaster survivors who need it."
Still no declaration for Alaska. Absolutely insane.
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— Dr. Samantha Montano (@samlmontano.bsky.social) October 20, 2025 at 9:34 AM
“This disaster is of a severity that the request would have normally been signed within a day of receiving a governor’s request," Montano added. "Not doing so is a deeply alarming departure from what Americans have come to expect from the federal government in times of disaster."
It's not the first time this year that the Trump administration, which has announced its goal to "phase out" FEMA, has been met with scrutiny for a delayed disaster response.
When a flood devastated Texas this year, resulting in at least 138 deaths, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waited for more than three days to authorize funds for the battered region, which delayed the critical work of search and rescue teams and aerial surveillance of the damage. The ability to warn residents was also reportedly hindered by the firing of National Weather Service (NWS) employees; meanwhile, the firing of FEMA contractors left thousands of phone calls from survivors unanswered.
According to The Guardian, Trump's cuts may have played a similar role in Alaska. As a result of mass layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the agency was forced to adopt a state of "degraded operations," which included canceling weather balloon launches from many of its most remote offices, including in Alaska.
Thoman noted that many of the areas impacted by the storm had not seen any weather balloon tests for several days or even months, which may have resulted in the storm's path remaining unclear until less than a day and a half before it crossed into Alaskan waters, which he said was "too late for evacuations in many places.”
The lack of information would have made forecasting more difficult for meteorologists, who are already overloaded as a result of staffing cuts. The National Weather Service's Alaska region's 200-person workforce was slashed by over 10% earlier this year. One meteorologist, who requested anonymity, told The Guardian that “we are understaffed" and that it seems like there is more on all our plates with the staffing shortages.”
Thoman also said other cuts may have impacted the ability to warn residents about the impending storm. He noted that KYUK, the public radio station in the region’s largest town, had lost 70% of its funding last month when the Trump administration stripped funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Notably, Trump eventually signed off on disaster aid for Alaska and has done the same for other Republican-led states like Nebraska, North Dakota, and Missouri. However, without explanation, he has denied the same funding to blue states, including Maryland, Vermont, and Illinois, leading to accusations that he is politicizing disaster aid.
But Alaska, one of the front lines of the climate crisis, has hardly been spared. In addition to the beleaguered federal response, the administration also canceled a $20 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant in May that was intended to protect the Alaska Native village of Kipnuk from coastal flooding and erosion caused by rising sea levels. It referred to the program as ”no longer consistent“ with agency priorities, with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin calling it an example of ”wasteful DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] and environmental justice grants.“
Four months later, Kipnuk became engulfed in over six feet of water, and about 90% of the homes and structures there were destroyed. Nearly all of its residents were evacuated. The village may never be rebuilt.
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Trump Order Ramps Up Assault on Union Rights of Federal Workers
One labor leader called it "another clear example of retaliation against federal employee union members who have bravely stood up against his anti-worker, anti-American plan to dismantle the federal government."
Aug 28, 2025
In the lead-up to Labor Day in the United States, President Donald Trump on Thursday escalated his attack on the union rights of federal employees at a list of agencies with an executive order that claims to "enhance" national security.
Trump previously issued an order intended to strip the collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of government employees in March, provoking an ongoing court fight. A federal judge blocked the president's edict—but then earlier this month, a panel from the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit allowed the administration to proceed.
Government agencies were directed not to terminate any collective bargaining agreements while the litigation over Trump's March order continued, but some have begun to do so, according to Government Executive. On Monday, the 9th Circuit said in a filing that it would vote on whether the full court will rehear the case.
Amid that court fight, Trump issued Thursday's order, which calls for an end to collective bargaining for unionized workers at the Bureau of Reclamation's hydropower units; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; National Weather Service; Patent and Trademark Office; and US Agency for Global Media.
Like the earlier order, this one cites the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. As Government Executive reported Thursday:
Matt Biggs, national president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, whose union represents a portion of NASA's workforce along with the American Federation of Government Employees, suggested that the administration's targeting of NASA—IFPTE's largest union—was in retaliation for its own lawsuit challenging the spring iteration of the executive order, filed last month.
"It's not surprising, sadly," Biggs said. "What is surprising is that on the eve of Labor Day weekend, when workers are to be celebrated, the Trump administration has doubled down on being the most anti-labor, anti-worker administration in US history. We will continue to fight in the courts, on the Hill, and at the grassroots levels against this."
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which also sued over the March order, said that "President Trump's decision to issue a Labor Day proclamation shortly after stripping union rights from thousands of civil servants, a third of whom are veterans, should show American workers what he really thinks about them."
"This latest executive order is another clear example of retaliation against federal employee union members who have bravely stood up against his anti-worker, anti-American plan to dismantle the federal government," Kelley declared, taking aim at the president's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
"Several agencies including NASA and the National Weather Service have already been hollowed out by reckless DOGE cuts, so for the administration to further disenfranchise the remaining workers in the name of 'efficiency' is immoral and abhorrent," the union leader said. "AFGE is preparing an immediate response and will continue to fight relentlessly to protect the rights of our members, federal employees, and their union."
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As Hurricane Erin Bears Down, FEMA Still Holding Up Millions in Funds for North Carolina
"Trump's reckless actions have left Americans vulnerable and unprepared," said a senior adviser at Climate Power.
Aug 21, 2025
As Hurricane Erin batters the East Coast, North Carolina has been left in the lurch by a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) badly battered by the Trump administration.
WRAL reported Tuesday that the Tar Heel State is still waiting on $13 million in federal disaster preparedness grants from FEMA.
This is on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars in recovery funds for last year's devastating Hurricane Helene, which the agency has promised but not yet delivered.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein told reporters Tuesday that $85 million would begin flowing from FEMA to the state to fund recovery from Helene.
That announcement came after Stein sent US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem a letter in July asking why she had not signed off on the disbursal of the desperately needed funds.
"Applications submitted as far back as February 2025 remain without a final decision," Stein wrote in the letter, which laid out $209 million worth of Helene recovery projects still awaiting her sign-off. "Further delay of these funds keeps communities and families in limbo, all while we are in another dangerous hurricane season."
Even though some funds are reportedly flowing, Stein says the government has yet to reimburse North Carolina for over $100 million.
"It creates real financial strain, especially on local governments, but also the state," Stein said in a press conference.
Noem's leadership of FEMA came under severe scrutiny earlier this summer after it was reported that her policies hampered the agency's ability to respond to the devastating flooding that killed at least 138 people in Texas.
In June, Noem introduced a new policy requiring all FEMA expenditures over $100,000 to be personally approved by her, which officials within the agency said led to the deployment of search and rescue teams being delayed for days.
Two-thirds of the phone calls from desperate Texans to FEMA also went unanswered after Noem allowed hundreds of contractors to be laid off just a day after the storm hit.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has implemented massive staff cuts to the agencies responsible for hurricane preparedness.
It laid off hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) storm laboratory, including hurricane hunters and researchers.
Nearly half of the National Weather Service (NWS)'s forecasting offices have been left critically understaffed, with around a quarter lacking a meteorologist-in-charge.
On the ground, there are about 20% fewer permanent FEMA staff responsible for responding to hurricanes and other disasters. Emergency training for those who remained on the job was also rolled back.
Sarah Galvez, Climate Power's senior adviser for climate urgency, says that communities in the path of Hurricane Erin "are being put at risk thanks to the Trump Administration gutting the forecasting that people rely on during extreme weather."
Since 1980, as the planet has warmed, the number of significant hurricanes (classified as Category 3 or greater) has doubled. In recent years, they have also begun to intensify more rapidly as they approach landfall, giving forecasters less time to catch them and residents less time to respond.
But as part of a multi-pronged assault on climate science, Trump has also made it harder to track these and other disasters. In May, NOAA announced that it would no longer track the number of disasters resulting in over $1 billion in damage.
"Fueled by the climate crisis," Galvez says, "major hurricanes are only becoming more frequent and severe, but Trump's reckless actions have left Americans vulnerable and unprepared."
On Tuesday, Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) introduced legislation aimed at rolling back Trump's cuts to these agencies.
Hurricane Erin is hitting the East Coast right now.Earlier this year, Trump slashed funding for FEMA and NOAA — the agencies that keep us safe before and after disasters. My new bill would reverse Trump's cuts and restore crucial resources for families across the country.
— Congressman Greg Casar (@repcasar.bsky.social) August 20, 2025 at 1:12 PM
"As we continue to face increasing numbers of natural disasters across our country—wildfires, floods, hurricanes—it's critically important that we equip our communities with the resources they need," Neguse said. "Whether it's the preparedness programs run by NOAA and NWS, or the response and recovery initiatives managed by FEMA, our federal agencies play a crucial role in addressing the increasing frequency of disasters."
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