John,

When the floods came to Texas this July, rivers swelled by 26 feet in less than an hour. More than 130 lives were lost, and entire communities were destroyed. Just when Texans needed help the most, rescue teams were missing, flood warnings were delayed, and FEMA's response time dangerously lagged.[1]

These deadly floods were a policy disaster as much as they were a natural disaster because the Trump administration has gutted the agencies designed to save us, including FEMA, NOAA, and the National Weather Service. Hundreds of expert staff were laid off, forecasting capacity was slashed, and emergency coordination systems were left under-resourced.

This is yet another disastrous example of how Trump’s attacks on critical agencies and institutions—all to pay for more tax cuts for billionaires—are harming our communities and costing lives.

The Trump tax bill, passed just days before the flood, locks in $5 trillion in tax giveaways mostly for the richest Americans and the biggest corporations. Meanwhile, the administration continues its DOGE cuts across federal agencies, from FEMA, NOAA, and the National Weather Service to the Social Security Administration and the IRS, and beyond.

They’ve chosen billionaires over basic public safety. Over your family. Over our neighbors in Texas. This is the price of greed: a government too weak to respond, too hollowed-out to protect us.

We must reject billionaire tax breaks that leave Americans to drown. Tell Congress to stand up to the Trump administration’s reckless staffing cuts and demand FEMA, NOAA, and the National Weather Service be restored now.

This was not a fluke. When the richest get more tax breaks, the rest of us get fewer first responders. Rural communities lose early warning systems. Poor families lose emergency shelters. Children lose their lives in summer camps that received no warning.

And it’s not just Texas. These cuts are hitting every state. Every coastline. Every wildfire zone. And the next disaster is coming. If we don’t act now, more families will be left stranded, more lives will be lost, and more billionaires will get richer while working people get left behind—and in some tragic cases, left to die.

We can build a government that works for the people, but that means forcing our elected officials to stop writing blank checks to the ultra-rich while defunding our future.

Tell Congress to stand up to Trump’s attacks on federal agencies and to demand FEMA, NOAA, and the National Weather Service be fully staffed now.

Let’s stand up to billionaire greed, demand Congress hold this administration accountable, and ensure that never again are families left to drown so the wealthy can hoard more tax breaks.

David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund