Pemotongan pemerintah Trump dan bencana di Texas | Politik berita

Berita  —  President Donald Trump’s approach to the federal government has been to cut, cut, cut, which means when there is a disaster in which the government plays a role, he will have to expect questions about those cuts.

When there’s a plane crash, as there was days into his second term, the shortage of air traffic controllers will be scrutinized.

When the administration quietly backtracks on some layoffs and struggles to re-fill key positions, it will lead to concerns that cuts went too far.

When there’s a tragic flood that catches an area off-guard, the effect of his cuts on the National Weather Service and FEMA will become a line of inquiry.

The disaster in Texas continues Flash floods killed at least 95 people over the July Fourth holiday, and many others are still missing.

Rescue and recovery are still ongoing, so no one can say for sure that personnel cuts at the National Weather Service or open positions at forecasting offices in Texas amplified or even affected the flood’s tragic outcome.

There are many facts yet to be discovered, and a full investigation will certainly be conducted.

Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, gather for a briefing as they aid in search-and-rescue efforts near the Guadalupe River in Ingram, Texas, on Monday, July 7.

Eli Hartman/AP Mud left by floodwaters partially covers a wall at Camp Mystic on Monday.

The all-girls summer camp, which sits along the river, was ravaged by the flooding.

Sergio Flores/Reuters Sen.

Ted Cruz speaks at a news conference in Kerrville, Texas, on Monday.

“If we could go back and do it again, we would evacuate,” the Texas Republican said.

“Particularly those in the most vulnerable areas — the young children in the cabins closest to the water — we would remove them and get them to higher ground, if we could go back and do it again.” Jorge Salgado/Anadolu/Getty Images Authorities search for flood victims near the Blue Oak RV park in Kerrville on Sunday, July 6.

Jordan Vonderhaar/The New York Times/Redux Community members pray for those impacted by the floods at the Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville on Sunday.

Desiree Rios/The Washington Post/Getty Images The sun sets over the Guadalupe River in Kerrville on Sunday.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images Food and other supplies for flood victims are collected at the Hunt Baptist Church in Hunt, Texas, on Sunday.

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images Volunteers prepare horses to join search-and-rescue crews near Ingram on Sunday.

Carter Johnston/The New York Times/Redux A search-and-rescue worker looks through debris in Hunt on Sunday.

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images A volunteer holds a Camp Mystic T-shirt and backpack in Comfort, Texas, on Sunday.

Danielle Villasana/The Washington Post/Getty Images People react as they inspect an area outside Camp Mystic's sleeping quarters on Sunday.

Julio Cortez/AP Avi Santos, a civilian volunteer from San Antonio, wades in the Guadalupe River.

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images Salvaged photographs of the Rich family are displayed on a table in their home in Center Point, Texas, on Sunday.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images A volunteer displays a "free food" sign for people in Center Point.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images Search-and-rescue workers dig through debris in Hunt on Sunday.

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images A helicopter flies overhead as volunteers search for flood victims in Kerr County.

Sergio Flores/Reuters A woman reacts as churchgoers sing at a service in Kerrville on Sunday.

Sergio Flores/Reuters An American flag and a shirt lie on the ground in Hunt on Sunday.

Marco Bello/Reuters The daughter of the owner of Vintage Hair Co.

looks at water lines on the wall of the destroyed salon in Ingram on Saturday, July 5.

Carter Johnston/The New York Times/Redux A truck is impaled by a tree on the banks of the Guadalupe River on Saturday.

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images People watch law enforcement officers and volunteers search for missing people near Camp Mystic.

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images A K-9 unit searches along the Guadalupe River near Camp Mystic on Saturday.

Desiree Rios/The Washington Post/Getty Images Campers from Camp Waldemar, near the north fork of the Guadalupe River, embrace as they are reconnected with their families on Saturday.

Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle/AP Items lie scattered inside a cabin at Camp Mystic on Saturday.

Sergio Flores/Reuters Ruby Zhu looks at her mother, Zhou, as she inspects damage in Kerrville on Saturday.

Sergio Flores/Reuters A toy sits on the ground outside of a cabin at Camp Mystic on Saturday.

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images A man vacuums water inside VFW Post 1480 in Kerrville on Saturday.

Sergio Flores/Reuters A Texas flag is seen through the remnants of a destroyed vehicle near Hunt on Saturday.

Eric Vryn/Getty Images A building is damaged at Camp Mystic on Saturday.

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images A sheriff's deputy pauses while combing through the banks of the Guadalupe River near Camp Mystic on Saturday.

Julio Cortez/AP A person looks out at flooding in Kerrville on Saturday.

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images A sign is downed in Ingram on Saturday.

Julio Cortez/AP People climb over debris on a bridge atop the Guadalupe River in Ingram on Saturday.

Julio Cortez/AP A family portrait lies among flood debris in Kerrville on Friday, July 4.

Eric Gay/AP A flooded Guadalupe River leaves fallen trees and debris in its wake in Kerrville on Friday.

Carter Johnston/The New York Times/Redux Families hug at a reunification center in Ingram on Friday.

Eric Gay/AP Thomas Rux, a resident of the Riverside RV Park in Ingram, looks through the wreckage of his RV after it was swept away by floodwaters on Friday.

Christopher Lee/The San Antonio Express-News/AP A vehicle is overturned in Kerrville on Friday.

Eric Gay/AP Houses and streets are flooded in San Angelo, Texas, on Friday.

Patrick Keely/Reuters First responders deliver people to a reunification center in Ingram on Friday.

Eric Gay/AP A woman watches floodwaters in Kerrville on Friday.

Eric Vryn/Getty Images In pictures: Deadly flooding in Texas Prev Next But Trump’s approach to weather and disasters is well-known Recent reports about how staffing and budget cuts are affecting forecasting at the agency may ultimately be seen as an early warning.

“The National Weather Service is in worse shape than previously known, according to interviews with current and former meteorologists, due to a combination of layoffs, early retirements and preexisting vacancies,” Berita’s Andrew Freedman wrote back in May.

The report also noted that a third of National Weather Service forecasting stations lacked a top meteorologist in charge.

There’s plenty more Berita reported in April the Trump’s administration plans to close weather research laboratories and climate research programs meant to improve weather detection as the climate warms.

That budget proposal was more recently submitted to Congress.

Project 2025, the conservative government blueprint that presaged many of the Trump administration’s decisions, called for much less federal spending on weather forecasting and more reliance on private companies.

FEMA’s future is in question We also can’t say for sure that Trump’s hands-off approach to emergency management will affect recovery in Texas.

In fact, Trump quickly declared the flood zone to be a major disaster area.

But he has also said he wants to shutter the Federal Emergency Management Agency and for the federal government to play a much smaller role.

“We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it back to the state level,” he said at the White House in June.

Asked if Trump is reconsidering that position in light of the horrible Texas floods, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this: “The president wants to ensure American citizens always have what they need during times of need.

Whether that assistance comes from states or the federal government, that’s a policy discussion that will continue.

And the president has always said he wants states to do as much as they can, if not more.” Berita’s Gabe Cohen recently reported that disaster decisions were being made directly at the White House, bypassing FEMA and the well-trod process by which states seek help.

It also raises concerns that White House political allies could get more attention than political enemies, although a Department of Homeland Security spokesman denied that idea to Cohen.

A test for Trump’s smaller government Wanting the federal government to do less has been a theme of the Trump administration so far.

States will either have to pony up more of their own money for Medicaid and food aid or watch citizens fall off assistance as a result of the sweeping new policy bill he signed Friday.

We also can’t directly blame this or any one storm on climate change.

But Republicans are currently bragging about killing the previous administration’s climate agenda, which Trump and his allies call the “Green New Scam.” In terms of specifics about the Texas floods, local residents and officials, still in shock during TV interviews, said they were caught off-guard by the floods.

That may not ultimately be a forecasting issue.

“The weather service did their job,” Rick Spinrad, who was National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator during the Biden administration, told Berita’s Boris Sanchez on Monday, referring to the issuance of watches, warnings and “WEAs,” the Wireless Emergency Alert system.

But Spinrad admitted there could have been a breakdown in connectivity between the forecasters and emergency services in the morning.

“On first blush, the communications breakdown happened at that last mile,” he said.

The San Antonio National Weather Service office was missing a key coordinator who Spinrad said “is critical in that last mile of communications.” That position has been vacant since April, when a longtime employee took the Trump administration’s buyout offer.

Asked about that unfilled position, Leavitt said, “The offices were fully staffed with forecasters.” Kerrville, Texas, Mayor Joe Herring Jr., told Berita’s Pamela Brown on Monday that he lost friends in the floods and that local officials had not gotten word about the severity of the forecast.

“We didn’t even have a warning.

We did not know,” he said, fighting back tears.

Berita’s Brown, who reported from Texas, has a personal connection to the story: As a child, she attended Camp Mystic, the girls’ camp where the flood claimed the lives of 27, including campers and staffers.

“I do think it’s important to have patience and humility that those (answers on what happened) may not come as quickly as perhaps we want,” she said.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime flood,” she added.

Residents knew the river could flood, but people she spoke to are referring to this as “an act of God.”