Gillibrand, Schumer Blast Trump Administration For Politicizing Disaster Assistance And Denying Aid For February Blizzard

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) condemned the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for politicizing disaster assistance following its second unexplained denial of Governor Hochul’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration in the wake of the February 2026 blizzard in New York. The storm brought record snowfall, whiteout conditions, and coastal flooding to downstate New York, resulting in increased expenditure of state and local resources to help communities recover from the disastrous conditions. The relief provided by the declaration would have alleviated the financial burden that counties and the state took on to mitigate the impacts of the storm. Governor Hochul’s request included Public Assistance for Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk Counties, Snow Assistance for Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties, and Hazard Mitigation for the entire state. In a letter to the FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton, the senators called out FEMA’s July 2, 2026 denial of Hochul’s initial request, which did not provide any reasoning or justification. In fact, according to public reporting , administration officials had determined that the request met federal standards for approval, but President Trump himself denied it regardless. The senators wrote, “Reporting reveals that the regional offices at FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) determined that the February blizzard met the threshold and standards for a disaster declaration for a record-breaking snowstorm. Disturbingly, the same reporting shows that President Trump chose to overrule the findings of his own agencies, in a move that can only be described as political.” After Governor Hochul appealed the denial, FEMA again refused her request with no explanation on September 2, 2026. The senators expressed their concern over the administration’s blatant political weaponization of federal disaster assistance, writing, “President Trump and this administration have the wrong priorities. Since taking office in his second term, President Trump has disproportionately denied or delayed approval of requests for federal disaster aid from states led by Democrats. Instead of helping all Americans to recover from record-breaking natural disasters, it is clear the President is turning his back to the millions of hard-working New Yorkers.” The senators concluded the letter by calling for full transparency around the Major Disaster Declaration denials. They requested that FEMA provide them with its analysis and reasoning for both the initial denial of Governor Hochul’s request and the denial of her appeal by October 5, 2026. The full text of the letter can be found here . ###