Rhode Island’s congressional delegation is accusing the Trump Administration of playing politics with disaster aid for the record-breaking blizzard the state saw in February.
President Trump denied the state’s request for a major disaster declaration on July 2, the four Rhode Island Democrats said in a joint statement Monday. And he did it on the same day Trump touted approving hundreds of millions for Republican-leaning states.
“Disaster aid should be merit-based, not politicized,” U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Reps. Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo said in a joint statement. “This is a petty move that hurts people across the political spectrum. We will fight it and work to reverse it.”
The blizzard that struck Rhode Island in February dropped as much as 38 inches of snow in Warwick, while battering the entire state and Massachusetts’ South Coast with snow, high winds and power outages. It took days for many people to dig out, and required the help of heavy-duty crews from out of state.
The storm caused billions of dollars in damage and economic losses, according to preliminary estimates.
The federal lawmakers said denying disaster aid to Rhode Island is an example of “extreme partisanship” that targets Democratic-leaning states.
Trump also declined to issue New York a disaster declaration for a February storm. They cited data from the Urban Institute think tank that shows Trump has approved 84% of disaster declarations requested by states he won in 2024, compared to 41% in states won by former Vice President Kamala Harris.
The lawmakers said they worked with FEMA to develop a preliminary assessment of damage from the February storm and that it found “an amount that greatly exceeds the threshold for a major disaster declaration.”
“Given the impact this storm had on the local economy, public services, and infrastructure, you should immediately approve any appeal submitted by the State of Rhode Island to reverse the denial of its request,” the lawmakers wrote to Trump.
In response to questions from Ocean State Media, a FEMA spokesperson said that the agency reviews all declaration requests under the Stafford Act, the federal law governing the process.
“The law and regulations require FEMA to review each request closely and consider the unique circumstances of disaster-caused damages as well as state and local capacity,” the unnamed spokesperson said in a statement.
Gov. Dan McKee, also a Democrat, vowed to appeal the administration’s decision.
“The Trump administration’s denial of Rhode Island’s disaster declaration appears to be yet another case of the White House putting politics ahead of people,” McKee said in a statement. “Despite the significant documented damage and our state’s compelling case for federal assistance, Rhode Island and our communities are being denied the support we deserve.”
