WASHINGTON — The White House is sternly defending the National Weather Service’s handling of the deadly floods in central Texas over the holiday weekend as some Democrats raise questions over whether staffing cuts implemented by President Donald Trump’s government downsizing campaign played a role.

What You Need To Know

  • The White House is sternly defending the National Weather Service’s handling of the deadly floods in Central Texas over the holiday weekend as some Democrats raise questions over whether staffing cuts implemented by President Donald Trump’s government downsizing campaign could have impacted the response
  • Leavitt insisted that the National Weather Service’s offices in the region, specifically the San Antonio and San Angelo stations, were “fully staffed” and issued “timely and precise forecasts and warnings"
  • Senate Democrats leader Chuck Schumer on Monday sent a letter to the Department of Commerce’s watchdog asking for an immediate investigation into whether staffing shortages at NWS stations in Texas “contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding"
  • Trump on Sunday similarly pushed back against any potential negative connection between staffing and the handling of the disaster but was more vague when asked if he still plans to dismantle FEMA

Addressing reporters at Monday’s White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed what she said were some in the media and Democrats – specifically naming Senate Democrats leader Chuck Schumer after he called for a probe into the staffing – for pushing “falsehoods” in the wake of the disaster that has left more than 90 people dead. 

“Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning,” she said. 

Leavitt went on to insist that the National Weather Service’s offices in the region, specifically the San Antonio and San Angelo stations, were “fully staffed” and issued “timely and precise forecasts and warnings.” She told reporters that one office was “actually overstaffed” and later ran through a timeline of notices and warnings the National Weather Service gave – reflecting one posted by the Department of Homeland Security on X – in the lead-up to the catastrophic floods. 

“People were sleeping in the middle of the night when this flood came – that was an act of God, it's not the administration's fault that the flood hit what it did,” Leavitt said. “But there were early and consistent warnings and again, the weather service did its job.”

The administration's defense comes as Schumer on Monday sent a letter to the Department of Commerce’s watchdog, acting inspector general Duane Townsend, asking for an immediate investigation into whether staffing shortages at NWS stations in Texas “contributed to the catastrophic loss of life and property during the deadly flooding.” 

In the letter, the Senate’s Democratic leader pointed to reporting from the New York Times in which Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, told the outlet that the San Antonio and San Angelo offices had a handful of vacant positions amid the storm. He added that Fahy also told the Times that vacancies at NWS offices “roughly doubled since President Trump returned to office” as the administration has looked to carry out a sweeping governing downsizing effort. 

“As those impacted begin to mourn their catastrophic loss and start to rebuild their communities we must do everything possible to provide answers as to why the community was not alerted sooner that dangerously high floodwaters were imminent – both to bring some semblance of peace to those impacted and to insure we do everything within our power to make sure it doesn’t ever happen again across the U.S.,” Schumer wrote. 

The National Weather Service Employees Organization did not provide additional information to Spectrum News on the comments from its legislative director reported by the Times. The NWS website for the San Antonio office has a handful of positions listed as vacant. 

The request for a probe from the upper chamber’s top Democrat followed a similar call from Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, who said in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he can’t say “conclusively” whether staffing had an impact but believes it should be investigated. 

“And I don't think it's helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies,” he said. 

Asked about the staffing at the Texas offices and Leavitt’s comment that one was overstaffed, the National Weather Service said in a statement that additional forecasters were on duty in the San Antonio and San Angelo offices during the floods. 

“Extra staff members from both offices, in addition to the West Gulf River Forecast Center, had extra personnel on the night of Thursday, July 3 into the day on Friday, July 4,” the National Weather Service said in a statement. “All forecasts and warnings were issued in a timely manner. Additionally, these offices were able to provide decision support services to local partners, including those in the emergency management community.”

Trump on Sunday similarly pushed back against any potential negative connection between staffing and the handling of the disaster, telling reporters “they did not” when asked if he was looking into whether cuts to the federal government left key vacancies. 

Meanwhile Trump, who has called for the elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency as it currently exists, was more vague when asked if that is still his plan for the agency tasked with leading the federal response to disasters around the country.

“Well FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now they're busy working, so we'll leave it at that,” Trump said.