Media, Democrats try to blame Trump for Texas flood deaths

Top Democrats are looking for ways to tie President Trump’s agenda to the deaths of dozens of people, including young campers, who were swept away in catastrophic flooding over the holiday weekend.

There’s no evidence that federal spending reductions impacted weather forecasting or factored into the difficulty of warning residents about the flash flood. Lack of a coordinated warning system for the flood-prone area is now the focus of intense scrutiny. 

As of Monday afternoon, 95 people were dead and dozens remained missing, Texas officials said. 

Democratic Party lawmakers attempted Monday to link the tragedy to Mr. Trump’s efforts to rein in the size and cost of government, specifically, recent cuts to the National Weather Service.

“There are consequences to Trump’s brainless attacks on public workers, like meteorologists,” Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, wrote on social media on Saturday.

On Monday, Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York wrote to the inspector general at the Commerce Department, which oversees the National Weather Service, demanding an immediate investigation to determine “whether the staffing shortfalls at NWS offices in Texas — and across the country — played a role in exacerbating the impact of this deadly flooding event.”  

With help from legacy media outlets including the New York Times, ABC News and CNN, Democrats are pushing the claim that Mr. Trump’s decision to slash spending and reduce the federal workforce contributed to inadequate weather forecasting that left the flood-prone area of Kerr County, Texas, unprepared for catastrophic flooding in the early morning hours of July 4.

Democrats raised questions about Mr. Trump’s federal spending and staffing cuts and how they may have played a role in the death toll in Texas.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, Texas Democrat, said on CNN that the reductions at NWS may have contributed to the tragedy. 

“When you have flash flooding, there’s a risk that you won’t have the personnel to make that, do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way, and it could lead to tragedy,” he said. “I don’t want to sit here and say conclusively that that was the case. But I do think that it should be investigated.”

Mr. Trump’s federal spending cuts have reduced the workforce at the National Weather Service by approximately 600 staffers through buyouts and layoffs, but none of those cuts directly impacted forecasting for the impacted area, according to NWS and other Texas meteorologists.

NWS meteorologist Jason Runyen said the agency’s local forecasting office had more than double the typical staff working ahead of the storm after adding three forecasters to the two who were already scheduled.

They issued a flash flood watch for the area more than 12 hours in advance, at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday and elevated the advisory to a flash flood warning at 1 a.m. Friday, about three hours before the Guadalupe River overflowed its banks and flooded a children’s camp. It happened very quickly, officials said. Around 4 a.m., the river rose 26 to 30 feet in 45 minutes. 

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the mayors and local leaders in the area were all contacted by the Texas Department of Emergency Management and were notified ahead of time about potential flood risks. It’s up to local officials to decide if and when to evacuate the area. 

“We have seen absolutely nothing to suggest that current staffing or budget issues within NOAA and the NWS played any role at all in this event. Anyone using this event to claim that is being dishonest,” meteorologist Matt Lanza, managing editor of Space City Weather in Houston, Texas, posted on his Substack page. 

The White House pushed back Monday against the criticism.

“Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. She accused Democrats of “trying to turn this into a political game.”

Mr. Schumer, in his letter to the inspector general, cited a New York Times story reporting that key NWS positions in the San Antonio and San Angelo offices, which provide forecasting for the Kerr County area, were vacant. The story also reported that the vacancy rate at the agency nationwide had nearly doubled since Mr. Trump’s second term began, in part because the administration imposed a hiring freeze and encouraged early retirements.

Ms. Leavitt said the San Angelo office was “fully staffed” with 12 forecast meteorologists and no vacancies. The San Antonio office was operating with 11 forecasters, she said, and had “adequate staffing.” 

Mr. Trump has come under intense criticism over plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency and instead give funding directly from the White House.

Mr. Trump, in June, said the federal government would give out “less money” for disaster aid in the future, except for catastrophic events.

The move follows past GOP criticism of the Biden administration for directing some FEMA funding to help house illegal immigrants while falling short in helping victims of natural disasters, including flooding from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. 

President Trump isn’t holding back funding or resources for the flood victims in Texas. He signed a disaster declaration for Kerr County on Sunday and said he’s working with Texas officials to provide federal assistance. He’ll visit the area on Friday. 

Kerr County officials have mulled an early warning system in the past, but were deterred by the steep cost. 

Instead, an informal system was in place, where camps along the river’s bank warned each other of rising water, according to transcripts of Kerr County government meetings reviewed by The Washington Times. 

But the July 4 flood came at 4 a.m. 

Mr. Patrick said Monday that Texas should fund warning sirens for communities in flood zones that operate similarly to those that warn Israel of an incoming missile attack. 

“The state needs to step up and pay for these,” Mr. Patrick said on Fox News. “Had we had sirens along this area … it’s possible that would have saved some of these lives.”