www.thecentersquare.com – Tim Clouser | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-08 13:53:00
The article reports on a subcommittee hearing where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was questioned by Senator Patty Murray about the alleged politicization of federal disaster relief funding. Murray raised concerns that Republican-led states were receiving quicker disaster relief responses than Democratic-led states, citing the denial of disaster aid to Washington state and other Democratic-led areas. Noem denied any political bias, insisting that funding was not being prioritized based on political affiliation. The article touches on FEMA’s handling of disaster relief under President Trump’s administration and the President’s proposed budget cuts, which include reductions to FEMA programs.
(The Center Square) – As red and blue states face rejection amid recent disasters, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem denied claims on Thursday that her department prioritizes relief in Republican-led areas.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., begged the question during a subcommittee hearing on the Department of Homeland Security’s 2026 budget request. Much of it centered on immigration enforcement, but Murray grilled Noem over the alleged politicization of federal relief funding.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which supports Americans in the face of natural disasters, falls under the oversight of DHS. Since President Donald Trump took office, FEMA has denied funding requests from at least one Republican-led and two Democratic-led states.
“Disaster relief has been politicized,” Murray claimed Thursday. “DHS is making it a lot harder to qualify for relief, something people in my home state of Washington are experiencing firsthand.”
FEMA rejected Washington state funding last month without providing a clear reason why.
Gov. Bob Ferguson released a statement that the state had met all the criteria after a windstorm hit Washington state last November. According to reporting by KUOW, an NPR station out of Seattle, FEMA has also denied relief funding to Arkansas, California, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
“Multiple requests from governors have been rejected in recent weeks, including a request from our state, and we haven’t been given any response about this,” Murray said. “I’m watching this, and I’m thinking, has President Trump directed you to prioritize funding for Republican states?”
“Absolutely not,” Noem immediately responded.
Murray claimed that Republican states are getting responses to their requests much faster than Democratic-led states, which “are being forced to wait. Trump has repeatedly criticized FEMA and suggested that the federal government should give the funding directly to the states.
The president’s “skinny budget” proposal for next year asks Congress to cut non-defense spending by $163 billion, a 22% reduction, some of which targets “wasteful and woke” FEMA programs.
“Have you directed your staff to prioritize funding to Republican-led states over Democratic states?” Murray pressed again.
“Absolutely not,” Noem told Murray. “There will not be any politicization of support, relief, FEMA assistance or grants given based on politics. Every single person will be treated the same; it’ll be very different than the Biden administration.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This article reports on a tense exchange between U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a Republican, during a subcommittee hearing on FEMA’s handling of disaster relief requests. The article sticks primarily to factual reporting, detailing the accusations made by Murray and Noem’s denials. The language used in the article is relatively neutral, recounting specific actions and claims without overtly taking sides. However, the mention of President Trump’s criticism of FEMA, as well as Noem’s responses defending the department’s actions, aligns the article slightly with a Center-Right perspective due to the overall framing of Noem’s defense and the portrayal of Democratic-led states’ complaints as politicized. There is no clear endorsement of either party’s perspective, but the piece subtly highlights the ongoing tension between political factions on the issue of disaster relief funding, with a slight inclination toward portraying Noem’s stance more favorably.
SUMMARY: Starting in August, Centerton will implement Act 505, a new Arkansas law amending the Freedom of Information Act of 1967. This law requires voting members of commissions, boards, and city councils to attend public meetings in person, eliminating virtual participation. It provides clearer guidelines on what governing members can discuss privately versus what must be addressed in public forums, aiming to enhance transparency. City leaders and legal experts emphasize the law’s role in fostering trust and improving public access to information. Meetings will remain open to the public, with live broadcasts on YouTube and Zoom access also available.
A new Arkansas law taking effect in August will require local government board members to attend meetings in person and sets stricter rules to ensure transparency in public discussions.
At a July 1, 2025 town hall in North Little Rock, experts discussed the significant impact of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Arkansas’s manufacturing and agriculture sectors. Farmers for Free Trade reported Arkansans paid $3.5 million in vehicle parts tariffs by April 2025, a sharp increase from $747,700 in April 2024. Tariffs raise costs for items like car parts, hand tools, and agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, while retaliatory tariffs from countries like China have caused a 43.7% drop in Arkansas soybean exports. Panelists stressed that tariffs increase costs and uncertainty, with limited prospects for domestic manufacturing jobs returning due to workforce shortages.
Arkansans are paying millions more for daily necessities like car parts as a result of tariffs placed on imports by the Trump administration, according to a report from Farmers for Free Trade.
The national nonprofit discussed the report during a town hall meeting Tuesday in North Little Rock. According to the report, Arkansans paid $747,700 in import taxes for vehicle parts in April 2024, with an average tariff rate of 7.3%. In April 2025, that number more than tripled to $3.5 million, with the average tariff rate reaching 27.3%.
Vehicle parts are especially exposed to the tariffs instituted by President Donald Trump in response to what he has described as unfair trade practices by other countries. American car manufacturers have increasingly turned to Canada and Mexico for manufacturing parts for their vehicles in recent years, with more than half of American vehicles and parts coming from those two countries.
But the tariffs — and the back-and-forth they have created for businesses as the administration announced new levies and then backed away from them in order to negotiate — don’t only affect car parts. Arkansas also imports hand tools and air pumps and fans from other countries, and paid large tariff costs as a result.
“Arkansas companies have already experienced sharp tariff increases in March and April of this year. But the breadth of these proposed trade actions — if fully enacted — could result in even more severe cost burdens in the months ahead,” the report said.
The broader trade war also poses risk for agriculture, the state’s largest industry.
During a panel discussion at Tuesday’s town hall at Jenkins Enterprises, longtime farmer and Corning Republican Sen. Blake Johnson said he believed the tariffs could force 20-30% of U.S. farmers to close their doors by December if relief doesn’t come, even as he said that tariffs were necessary and needed “so we can sell and buy in a fair market.”
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Farmers face a double-whammy from tariffs. They have high input costs for items like tractor parts and fertilizer that could increase more because of tariffs. Johnson said fertilizer that cost $450 a ton last year now costs close to $650.
Tariffs imposed by other nations in retaliation for U.S. import taxes are another risk. For example, about half of the state’s soybean exports were sent to China last year, according to the report. But after Trump levied tariffs on Chinese goods, the east Asian country imposed reciprocal tariffs on American-grown crops. Soybean exports from the U.S. to China were down 43.7% in April compared to the same time last year.
“That’s why we see the 50% fall off in Arkansas exports of soybeans, because our soybeans now are more expensive when we’re trying to sell into overseas markets [as a result of reciprocal tariffs],” said Brian Kuehl, the executive director of Farmers for Free Trade.
Trump has argued that businesses should absorb the tariff costs. Short-term pain is necessary for long-term gain, he and his allies have said, in order to bring back manufacturing jobs to the U.S.
However, Steve Jenkins, the owner of Jenkins Enterprises, which makes branded products such as Arkansas Razorbacks flags and coffee cups, said that while the administration’s goal was admirable, it was not necessarily possible.
“People will say to me, ‘Well, why don’t you just buy it in America?’ Because those products are no longer made in America, and one of the reasons for that is simply because we don’t have enough people to do it,” Jenkins said.
The issue, Jenkins said, was that even if manufacturing came back to the U.S., there wouldn’t be a workforce to fill those jobs. As America’s economy developed, he said, manufacturing of many goods was sent to Japan, then Taiwan. And as those countries’ economies developed and began focusing on more complex products, some of that manufacturing then made its way to China.
“We’ve got jobs in America, we don’t have workers…those jobs are not going to come back to America,” he said. “They’re not going to be available in America, and we just don’t have the workers to support it.”
The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.2% in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, existing U.S. manufacturing has continued to contract, according to the Institute for Supply Management. Respondents to its June survey said broad uncertainty as a result of the tariffs has impacted their orders.
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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article presents a balanced view of the impact of tariffs imposed during the Trump administration, reporting both the intended goals and the economic consequences. It includes perspectives from business owners, economists, farmers, and a Republican state senator, highlighting concerns about increased costs and retaliatory tariffs while acknowledging the rationale behind the trade policies. The tone remains factual and neutral, avoiding partisan language or ideological framing. The coverage focuses on the practical effects on Arkansas industries and does not overtly advocate for or against the tariffs, resulting in an overall centrist stance.
SUMMARY: During Beyoncé’s Houston show at NRG Stadium, a flying car she was riding in began to tilt dangerously mid-performance while she was singing “16 Carriages.” Calm but cautious, Beyoncé instructed the crew to stop and was safely lowered into the crowd, who cheered her on. No one was hurt, and the show continued after she thanked fans for their patience, noting Houston is her hometown and expressing trust in her fans. For her next show, the flying car stunt was dropped. The event was highly energetic, with fans dressed in elaborate outfits celebrating Beyoncé’s “Country Carter” tour.
Beyoncé faced a scary moment over the weekend when a flying car she was riding in tilted during her concert in Houston.
