Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders as well as the state's U.S. congressional delegation have sent letters this past week to the Trump administration to appeal the denial of the state’s major disaster relief request.
Huckabee Sanders, press secretary for President Donald Trump during his first term, filed her appeal in a letter to Trump last Friday. Both U.S. senators and Arkansas’ four representatives also appealed directly to Trump in a letter sent Monday.
Arkansas was one of several states ravaged by tornadoes last month that “produced catastrophic impacts across the state,” the governor’s office wrote in a release on April 18. Sanders requested the Major Disaster Declaration relief on April 2.
“I am formally appealing the denial of Individual Assistance,” she wrote to Trump. “I respectfully ask that you consider the significant strain the citizens of Arkansas have endured over the past month.”
The congressional delegation, led by GOP Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton, also implored Trump to reconsider.
“As Governor Sanders noted in her request, these storms caused catastrophic damage across the state, resulting in disastrous amounts of debris, widespread destruction to homes and businesses, the deaths of three Arkansans, and injuries to many more,” the lawmakers wrote.
Trump has assailed FEMA as “a very big disappointment” for being “very bureaucratic” and “very slow.” He has pushed for the elimination of FEMA and putting aid relief in the hands of states.
To that end, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said late last month that preparations are underway to "eliminate" the agency. That came a week after Trump signed an executive order that set the stage for a major overhaul of federal disaster relief programs.
It reads in part, "This Executive Order delivers on President Trump’s commitment to shift power from Washington to the American people."