STATEMENT: Trump Administration Plays Deadly Shell Game with Disaster Funds, Strips St. Louis Funding to Cover New Orleans Levee Inspections

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Nearly 20 years after Hurricane Katrina exposed systemic federal neglect of New Orleans’s levee system, the Trump administration announced it managed to find funding for levee inspections – by taking critical resources from St. Louis, a city still reeling from its own devastating storms. This deadly shell game is exactly what happens when an administration cuts 1,000 FEMA employees and eliminates billions in disaster preparedness funding: vulnerable communities are forced to compete for scraps while Trump creates the illusion of progress. By systematically destroying America’s disaster preparedness infrastructure, this administration is trying to create a zero-sum game where protecting one community means abandoning another—all while making every community less safe.

In response, Sabotaging Our Safety Advisory Council member Davante Lewis, Public Service Commissioner for Louisiana’s Third District, released the following statement:

“Trump isn’t doing anyone any favors - he’s pitting vulnerable communities against each other. Stealing resources from St. Louis doesn’t make up for gutting disaster preparedness funding and laying off thousands of first responders. We shouldn’t have to choose between protecting New Orleans or St. Louis. This administration’s approach creates a zero-sum game where everyone loses while Trump gets to play politics with people’s lives.”

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