Four states left out in the cold
President Trump denied $227 million in FEMA disaster aid to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island for recovery from a major snowstorm in February. Two days earlier, the president approved disaster aid for six Republican-led states while praising GOP politicians in those states on Truth Social. All four rejected states exceeded FEMA's documented damage threshold: New Jersey recorded $84.4 million in eligible damage against an $18.5 million threshold.
Pattern of partisan denial exposed
POLITICO's investigation revealed that in this term, Trump approved just 23% of disaster requests from states with a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators, versus 89% for states led by Republicans. Sixteen Democratic senators have demanded documents from the White House. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson denied any politicization, saying Trump 'provides a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any Administration has before him.'
States plan appeals
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, and Rhode Island's congressional delegation all said they would appeal the denials. FEMA said snowstorm damage must be 'genuinely extraordinary' to qualify. The Trump administration had previously considered ending all disaster aid for snowstorms, but a January bipartisan spending measure explicitly made snowstorms eligible for federal relief.