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This week, the Trump administration sanctioned major disaster declarations for seven states, as reported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Saturday. This approval provides the impacted areas with access to federal aid. Currently, about 15 additional requests from other states and tribes, covering severe weather incidents from this year and last, are still awaiting decisions, alongside three appeals of earlier rejections.
The states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Washington have received these major disaster declarations. This status enables them to tap into federal resources for recovery efforts, which include mending public infrastructure and extending support to affected individuals.
The announcement was included in a FEMA daily briefing, marking a significant point in the tenure of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who now leads the disaster relief agency. This development indicates a potential departure from the controversies surrounding former leader Kristi Noem, whose dismissal by President Donald Trump occurred in March.
However, FEMA’s operations could face challenges due to the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, now in its eighth week. Although disaster relief efforts can persist through the shutdown because of FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, the fund is gradually depleting amid the budget stalemate. A proposed DHS appropriations bill aims to infuse over $26 billion into the fund.
On Tuesday, Mullin revealed plans to update President Trump on the outstanding declaration requests. He emphasized his commitment to expedite resolutions on past disaster responses ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season, which commences on June 1.
“We’re trying to push this stuff forward as fast as possible,” Mullin said after surveying Hurricane Helene recovery work in North Carolina on his first official visit as DHS secretary, acknowledging that “disasters are happening constantly.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Saturday that Trump responds to such requests “with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement — not substitute — their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.” She said an administration goal is having state and local governments “invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.”
While Mullin assured fellow senators during his confirmation hearing that he believed in FEMA’s mission, the agency’s future is uncertain. Trump has expressed a desire to push more responsibility for disasters down to states. The FEMA Review Council he appointed last year has not released a recommendation report expected to include sweeping changes to how the federal government supports disaster resilience, response and recovery.
It was not immediately clear whether other states or tribes had also been told of approvals or denials that were not yet announced publicly. Hawaii Governor Josh Green, a Democrat, said Wednesday said his state had received a disaster declaration for devastating March flooding.
Trump also amended past disaster declarations for Tennessee and Mississippi, adding more counties for individual assistance after a severe winter storm in January.
It took less than two weeks on average for a governor’s disaster declaration request to be granted by presidents in the 1990s and early 2000s. That rose to about three weeks during the past decade under presidents from both major parties.
Arizona has been waiting nearly three months for an answer to its appeal after being denied support for severe storms and flooding that occurred in September.
Some Democrat-led states have complained about being denied disaster declarations despite proving need. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called Trump’s decision “deeply frustrating” after the president twice denied the state’s request for support for May 2025 flooding despite a FEMA assessment showing over $33 million in damages.
While FEMA assesses damage and uses a specific formula to analyze the possible impact on states and local jurisdictions, disaster declarations are ultimately at the president’s discretion.
None of the approvals made this week includes hazard mitigation funding, a once-typical add on to disaster declaration support that helped communities build back with more resilience. Trump has not approved a hazard mitigation request for more than a year.