Trump Stripped All $103 Million of Legal Assistance from Storm and Disaster Victims

[Passages]

Trump campaigned on a promise he wouldn't abandon hurricane and flood victims

Ryan Grim and Sarah Hay
Feb 24, 2025



WASHINGTON—Before officially taking office, the incoming Trump administration directed House Speaker Mike Johnson to strip legal assistance from victims of floods, hurricanes, and fire that had been included in an emergency supplemental spending bill in December.

Johnson readily complied, sources familiar with the negotiations said, and the move came even after President Donald Trump's election campaign ran heavily on the claim that Democrats had "abandoned" flood victims, particularly those in western North Carolina. The funding cut, amounting to $103 million, has not been previously reported.

The directive was delivered to Johnson by Russ Vought, the sources said. Vought at the time was Trump's incoming director of Office of Management and Budget and has since been confirmed to the position. As Trump's budget director during his first time, he attempted each year to defund the Legal Services Corporation in its entirely. LSC provides legal aid on civil matters to struggling Americans. Despite Vought’s previous effort, both Republicans and Democrats continued funding LSC during his first term. Vought’s sniping of LSC in the disaster supplemental suggests his attack on LSC is far from over.

Vought is known in Republican circles as one of the most aggressive advocates of austerity. He served as a senior staffer on Capitol Hill to House Republicans before his first stint at the OMB, and was a principal driver of Project 2025, the blueprint for the evisceration of the administrative state now underway.
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