President Donald Trump denied two recent fire and flooding disaster relief requests from Colorado over the weekend, drawing criticism Monday from a Republican member of Congress and Colorado’s attorney general.
Gov. Jared Polis made the requests for federal assistance earlier this year after August’s Elk and Lee fires in Rio Blanco County damaged crucial electric lines and October’s record-breaking flooding in La Plata, Archuleta and Mineral counties damaged or destroyed drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
The state estimates initial damage from the fires totaled about $27 million and the flooding at least $13 million.
Trump’s denials came Saturday, and Polis vowed to appeal Sunday. On Monday, Attorney General Phil Weiser said he is looking at the denials and considering how to move forward.
Weiser considers Trump’s disaster relief denials to be part of a “retribution campaign” for Colorado’s incarceration of Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk serving a nine-year prison sentence for orchestrating a breach of her county’s election system in search of evidence of electoral fraud, and the state’s mail-in voting system.
“This is a concern that we are indeed mindful of, we are looking at, considering how to address,” he said of the disaster denials. “This administration is a threat to the rule of law, and we’ve got to address this concern with every tool we can.”
The denials are the latest in a stretch of federal blows to Colorado. Last week, the Trump administration announced it was canceling $109 million of previously committed grant funding for environment and transportation projects across the state. The following day, the administration announced it would dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a six-decade-old facility in Boulder.
The denials from Trump brought rebuke from Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Republican from Grand Junction whose district was affected by both disasters. The first-term member of Congress called on the Trump administration to work with the state on an appeal.
“Western Colorado has long supported the President, and that support comes from communities now facing the real human and economic consequences of recent disasters,” Hurd said in a statement. “Local leaders and residents are seeking a consistent application of FEMA criteria so recovery efforts can move forward.”
Disaster declarations unlock key funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which helps states recover from things like fires and flooding by repairing public infrastructure and sometimes providing survivors money for home repairs and temporary accommodations.
Most of the damage from the Lee fire, the fifth-largest in Colorado history, was to the White River Electric Association’s electrical infrastructure, including two high-voltage transmission facilities that provide power to natural gas and other industrial producers. The damage left industrial consumers in the Piceance Basin southwest of Meeker with limited ability to operate. Without federal help, Polis said there is a risk of “local economic collapse.”
“We’re terribly disappointed in the outcome of the FEMA determination, but that doesn’t change our path for recovery,” Alan Michalewicz, WREA’s general manager, said in a statement. “We will explore the FEMA appeals process, but in the end, our members rely on us to provide reliable and affordable power and that’s where we will continue to place our focus and energy.”
Trump has recently approved disaster declarations for Alaska, North Dakota, Nebraska and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota and denied declarations for Vermont, Illinois and Maryland, according to an AP analysis. The approvals and denials mostly follow the results of the 2024 election: Almost all of the states that have received declarations went for Trump, and all that have not went for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said there is “no politicization” to Trump’s decisions on disaster aid.
Colorado Sun reporter Mark Jaffe contributed to this story.
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