DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov.Jared Polisaccused PresidentDonald Trumpof playing "political games" Sunday after the Trump administration denied disaster declaration requests following wildfires and flooding in the state earlier this year.
Polis' office said he received late Saturday two denial letters from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The letters follow requests for major disaster declarationsfollowing wildfiresand mudslides in August and what Polis had described as "historic flooding"across southwest Coloradoin October.
Polis and Colorado's U.S. senators, fellow Democrats Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, decried the denials. Polis said the state would appeal.
"Coloradansimpacted by the Elk and Lee fires and the flooding in Southwestern Colorado deserve better than the political games President Trump is playing," he said in a statement.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said Trump responds to each request for federal disaster assistance "with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement — not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters."
Jackson said there is "no politicization" to Trump's decisionson disaster aid.
Trump has raised the idea of"phasing out" FEMA, saying he wants states to take more responsibility. States already take the lead in disasters, but federal assistance comes into play when the needs exceed what they can manage on their own.
