Poll: More than half say government could have prevented Texas flood deaths
When asked in the poll from The Economist/YouGov if they believed 'most of the deaths from the floods in Texas could have been avoided if the government had been better prepared' or if the deaths happened to be 'tragic but unavoidable,' 52 percent of respondents said they thought the majority of the deaths 'could have been avoided.'
Twenty-nine percent in the same poll said the deaths 'were unavoidable,' while 19 percent said they did not 'know.'
At least 134 people died in the flooding, and at least 101 remain missing, according to ABC.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has denied reports suggesting the deployment of resources to Texas was slowed due to a new rule requiring her sign-off on all Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants or contracts worth over $100,000.
During a Sunday interview on NBC News's 'Meet the Press,' Noem acknowledged that she put in place the new rule but said the resources were sent quickly after the flooding.
'Those claims are absolutely false. Within just an hour or two after the flooding, we had resources from the Department of Homeland Security there, helping those individuals in Texas. It was a heartbreaking scene,' Noem said.
'And I think it's been well covered about what the Coast Guard did, how they were deployed immediately and helped rescue so many individuals from those floodwaters,' she added.
The Economist/YouGov poll took place between July 11 and 14 among 1,680 respondents and has a plus or minus 3.4 percentage points margin of error.
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Boston Globe
27 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
State Department layoffs affect key Trump priorities like intelligence, energy, and China
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That includes half of a team that investigated passport fraud and 23 people who oversaw contracts to provide American citizen services, including processing passport applications, in the U.S. and abroad, according to a list compiled by current and former foreign service officers and sent to Congress this week. Others fired included experts responsible for dealing with visa fraud and money laundering in Russia and Eastern Europe as well as transnational criminal organizations and migrant worker visa fraud in Mexico and Central America. Advertisement A small team that had worked on multilateral engagements in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, including supporting Rubio's trip to Malaysia last week, also were fired as Rubio was flying back to Washington from Kuala Lumpur, according to the list. A handful of employees said their small office was eliminated even though it was doing work on immigration that the administration had deemed a priority. They thought their jobs were safe, and several were on vacation when the notices started rolling in. 'It came out of the blue, and there's no one left to do what we were doing,' said one of the laid-off employees, who has more than 30 years of experience. Fired employees speak out about their work In interviews with The Associated Press, more than half a dozen employees who got notice to clear out their desks described their work as crucial. For some, the government spent tens of thousands of dollars investing in their language skills, providing training or moving them and their families from one overseas posting to another. They spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal from the agency where they remain on the payroll until September. 'The American people aren't getting all of the facts about what the department has done,' said a civil service officer working in intelligence who was fired last week. 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A staffer focused on strategic competition with China said the decision to lay off staff who had institutional and cultural knowledge of China and spoke the language could leave the U.S. exposed. He added that Rubio had recently labeled the country as 'the most significant long-term risk to the United States.' The State Department says it needs to be nimble Although the dismissals were less severe than many feared, they're a major concern for staffers being tasked with additional duties to make up for losses in key areas like intelligence and research, consular affairs, diplomatic security, energy, and international and educational organizations. Before a panel of deeply skeptical Democratic lawmakers, Michael Rigas, the State Department official who sent employees the layoff notices, tried Wednesday to allay concerns that the cuts would have a devastating impact on U.S. diplomacy. He denied allegations that the layoffs were conducted in a haphazard and irresponsible manner to the detriment of national security. Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management, made the case to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the department with more than 76,000 employees worldwide had grown exponentially and that a massive reorganization was needed to keep it relevant and nimble to respond to foreign crises and policy challenges. Advertisement The department 'became large and began to lose its way,' becoming 'ineffectual bureaucratically,' spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters Wednesday. She added that it wasn't 'the fault of the people who were in those seats, but the structure itself.' Rigas said those laid off Friday are on administrative leave — foreign service officers for 120 days, and civil servants for 20 days — and they could have the opportunity to apply for other positions once a government-wide hiring freeze is lifted. Booker confronts Trump administration official Some senators were not buying Rigas' argument, and sharp disagreements erupted into a shouting match after New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker accused Rigas of lying to lawmakers this week over the extent of the staff reductions. Booker was visibly angry as he wielded a list of what he said were misstatements, half-truths or lies in Rigas' testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee a day earlier about the firings. 'I don't trust you, Mr. Rigas,' Booker said. 'Your statements lack veracity.' 'This is outrageous,' Rigas replied as he tried to respond over multiple interruptions from Booker. Booker's list resembled the one compiled by current and former foreign service officers identifying certain eliminated positions that Rigas said had been largely spared. 'Sir, you have not been truthful,' Booker said. 'I have watched you lie to this committee, I have watched you lie to the House committee.' Amiri reported from New York.
Hamilton Spectator
27 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
State Department layoffs affect key Trump priorities like intelligence, energy and China
WASHINGTON (AP) — One employee coordinated intelligence activities. Another worked to leverage U.S. energy interests abroad. And a third was an expert on strategic competition with China. They are just some of the more than 1,300 State Department employees fired last week, eliminating hundreds of years of institutional knowledge and experience. The move has stunned America's diplomatic workforce, not only as their careers abruptly end but as they wonder who — if anyone — will fill in on what they call critical work to keep the U.S. safe and competitive on the world stage. Many of the positions and offices 'abolished' Friday under Secretary of State Marco Rubio's dramatic reorganization plan overlap with priorities President Donald Trump has laid out for his second term, such as combating visa fraud and countering China. Other cuts could have wide impact on everyday life, including processing Americans' passport applications. Trump administration officials have defended the mass dismissals, saying they are overdue and necessary to make the department leaner and more efficient. Where the State Department cuts are hitting Among the employees laid off are more than 100 people who worked in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, which is self-funded from passport and visa fees. That includes half of a team that investigated passport fraud and 23 people who oversaw contracts to provide American citizen services, including processing passport applications, in the U.S. and abroad, according to a list compiled by current and former foreign service officers and sent to Congress this week. Others fired included experts responsible for dealing with visa fraud and money laundering in Russia and Eastern Europe as well as transnational criminal organizations and migrant worker visa fraud in Mexico and Central America. 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The State Department says it needs to be nimble Although the dismissals were less severe than many feared, they're a major concern for staffers being tasked with additional duties to make up for losses in key areas like intelligence and research, consular affairs, diplomatic security, energy, and international and educational organizations. Before a panel of deeply skeptical Democratic lawmakers, Michael Rigas, the State Department official who sent employees the layoff notices, tried Wednesday to allay concerns that the cuts would have a devastating impact on U.S. diplomacy. He denied allegations that the layoffs were conducted in a haphazard and irresponsible manner to the detriment of national security. Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management, made the case to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the department with more than 76,000 employees worldwide had grown exponentially and that a massive reorganization was needed to keep it relevant and nimble to respond to foreign crises and policy challenges. The department 'became large and began to lose its way,' becoming 'ineffectual bureaucratically,' spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters Wednesday. She added that it wasn't 'the fault of the people who were in those seats, but the structure itself.' Rigas said those laid off Friday are on administrative leave — foreign service officers for 120 days, and civil servants for 20 days — and they could have the opportunity to apply for other positions once a government-wide hiring freeze is lifted. Booker confronts Trump administration official Some senators were not buying Rigas' argument, and sharp disagreements erupted into a shouting match after New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker accused Rigas of lying to lawmakers this week over the extent of the staff reductions. Booker was visibly angry as he wielded a list of what he said were misstatements, half-truths or lies in Rigas' testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee a day earlier about the firings. 'I don't trust you, Mr. Rigas,' Booker said. 'Your statements lack veracity.' 'This is outrageous,' Rigas replied as he tried to respond over multiple interruptions from Booker. Booker's list resembled the one compiled by current and former foreign service officers identifying certain eliminated positions that Rigas said had been largely spared. 'Sir, you have not been truthful,' Booker said. 'I have watched you lie to this committee, I have watched you lie to the House committee.' ___ Amiri reported from New York. Error! 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Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
Trump administration sued by 20 states over FEMA funding cuts
The Trump administration is being sued by 20 states who are seeking to block the cancelation of a grant program that helped protect against potential natural disasters. The big picture: "By unilaterally shutting down FEMA's flagship pre-disaster mitigation program, Defendants have acted unlawfully and violated core separation of powers principles," says the lawsuit that was filed in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday on the program, which has helped states, local and territorial governments and Tribal Nations work to reduce their hazard risk. Driving the news: FEMA announced in an April that it was ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program and canceling all BRIC applications from fiscal years 2020-23. The post announcing the cuts that appears to have since been removed was titled, "FEMA Ends Wasteful, Politicized Grant Program, Returning Agency to Core Mission of Helping Americans Recovering From Natural Disasters." The suit that led by Washington and Massachusetts argues that by "refusing to spend funds Congress directed toward BRIC or trying to spend them on other programs" the administration had violated the Constitution and unlawfully intruded on Congress' "power of the purse." Zoom in: "The impact of the shutdown has been devastating. Communities across the country are being forced to delay, scale back, or cancel hundreds of mitigation projects depending on this funding," the states argue in the suit. Projects that have been in development for years, and in which communities have invested millions of dollars for planning, permitting, and environmental review are now threatened. And in the meantime, Americans across the country face a higher risk of harm from natural disasters. For the record: Most of the states suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Acting FEMA head Cameron Hamilton, the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are Democratic-led. The states suing the administration are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
