Cnn
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The Trump administration has considerably reduced the financing of flood prevention projects in the blue states through the country while creating new water construction opportunities in the red states, by striking a Budget proposal from the Biden era which would have allocated money more uniformly, according to an analysis of the data prepared by the members of the Democratic staff.
California and the state of Washington have lost the most funds, the administration cutting the water construction budget of these states by 606 million dollars combined, according to the analysis, which was shared with CNN. Texas, on the other hand, won $ 206 million.
Democrats have decried the movements, claiming that the administration reduced essential projects in the name of political remuneration. Collectively, the States of Democratic Senators have lost more than $ 436 million in funding compared to what they received in the last proposed budget of the administration of President Joe Biden, according to data analysis. The states led by the Republicans have earned more than $ 257 million, according to the analysis.
“President Trump obviously plays in politics with the investments of the construction of the Corporate Army and punished the American people for the way their states voted,” said the member of the Chamber’s credit committee, Rosa Delauro and his colleague Democrat Marcy Kaptur in a joint declaration in CNN.
The Trump administration said that money had been allocated “according to needs and emergency” and that the cuts did not universally reach the States controlled by the Democrats. Iowa and Louisiana, who both have republican governors and American senators, for example, have seen their global funding reduced.
“The civil work plan for financial year 201 will generate billions of dollars in economic activity by strengthening the domination of American energy and shipping capacity while investing in important conservation projects,” a spokesman for the management and budget office told CNN. “The available funds were allocated by the administration according to needs and emergency, in accordance with the directives established by the Congress.”
During a household credit subcommittee audience on Wednesday, an official of the body of army engineers promised a non-outgo-out, but could not give a concrete response to the reason why the administration reduced the financing of the Blue States and gave the red states under the questioning of the Californian Democratic Mike Levin.
The acting deputy assistant director of the army Robyn Colosimo said that the administration had to reduce the projects because the bill on the financing of the short -term government has considerably reduced the funds available to the program. It was not his decision, said Colosimo, how the cuts were made.
“We always support the best projects. In this case, this is a risky situation,” said Colosimo. “They made difficult choices. The administration did it. And they had this discretion. ”
“I think they had to compromise that I was not aware,” said Colosimo, when he was put forward if the cuts were partisan. “It was the priorities they placed that were different from other projects.”
In a statement before CNN, a spokesperson for the army body said that the credit bill “has enabled the administration to allocate all funds to projects, programs and civil work activities in accordance with its priorities”.
As a general rule, the Congress takes a presidential budget request and establishes financing levels for water construction projects through bills for annual credits on a bipartite basis. But because Congress adopted a bill on the financing of the short -term government without clear guidelines for these projects in March, the Trump administration has a complete discretion to determine how funding should be allocated.
Biden had proposed relatively uniform financing levels for water construction projects in red and blue states in its budget request last year, blue states obtaining approximately 53% of the funds available for construction projects and red states obtaining 47%. The Chamber and the Senate adopted bills in 2024 which would also have provided relatively uniform funding for 2025. But the Trump administration plan only allocated 33% of blue states and 64% in red.
A familiar source with the budget said that priorities often change with a change of administration, but the change of spending on these projects was “unique” for “the scale” of the way funding was reassigned.
“This has always been done on the edges; this is a wholesale dismissal of the 2025 budget,” said the person. “It is mainly like a war on the west coast. They definitively slipped blue states to finance red states. ”
Four flood prevention projects in California, which were to win $ 126.4 million combined under Biden’s draft budget, do nothing in the Trump administration plan. One of the projects to lose funding, the Sacramento Natomas Basin is “one of the country’s most risky areas for catastrophic floods”, according to the website of the army of the engineers.
The West Sacramento Levee Project, which does not obtain a $ 43 million project, Bissette 48,000 residents and provides vital infrastructure to the American postal service, said California Department of Water Resources Facility Fund and the port of West Sacramento, said the body of army engineers.
California flood control projects are essential given the flood that the state has obtained so-called atmospheric rivers, essentially, rivers in the sky that can delude cities and cities in water. One of the Californian communities which was to receive funding from the flooded army body during atmospheric rivers in 2023, a year when tens of billions of water gallons fell on the state, according to the NOAA.
“Natural disasters and floods do not discriminate – they can and strike the red and blue states,” California Democratic Schiff said in a statement to CNN. “The Trump administration politicizes the body of the army and its critical mission, and it must stop playing games with people’s lives.”
A $ 500 million dam project that provides flood control and Washington water conservation will also get nothing in the Trump plan, and other state projects have received far fewer resources. The dam has flooded more than 30 times in the past 70 years, causing serious damage to land and buildings, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
“We are witnessing a historic and serious abuse and politically motivated by our dollars taxpayers by President Trump,” said Washington senator Patty Murray, the best democrat of the Senate credit committee, adding: “It is a corrupt BS of the president.”
Texas has obtained the largest investment, with more than $ 206 million awarded for two major sailing projects that were not part of the 2024 budget demand. One deepened the sabine-nos navigable path, which is crucial for military and energy transport. And the financing of the Houston ship canal will provide dredging and maintenance.
The other states led by the Republicans to win tens of millions of new funding for the construction of navigable lanes include Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee. A new financing of $ 16.5 million to resolve the damage caused by storms in the New Jersey managed by the Democrats is from the District of GOP Jeff Van Drew.
The Hill Republicans defended money allowances to their states and districts.
“Good for the Republican States,” the GOP representative, Tony Gonzales, who sits on the Chamber Credit Committee, told CNN. “There is your incentive to be a republican state.”
“Washington has chosen the winners and the losers for a long time. It will not stop choosing winners and losers. Better to be on the winning side than on the losing side,” added Gonzales.
When asked if he thought that partisan policy had overshadowed the distribution of funding, Van Drew, who worked with the administration to have funding approved, told CNN. “Not that I know.”
“I would say that, even when the Democrats were in control and I was here, I did very well in my district because the need for these projects is so great,” said Van Drew.
The GOP representative, Randy Weber, whose coastal district of Texas is home to several key ports, said that the construction awarded in its condition was based on the disproportionate need to maintain safe shipping practices.
“We need the chain to be digested,” said Weber. “We are able to do more trade and more trade. So, for us, it’s a big problem. ”
The GOP representative, Dave Joyce de l’Ohio, who says that he has succeeded in obtaining various dredging projects funded, said that CNN legislators had to plead to convince the administration to finance these types of projects.
“You were able to work on them,” said Joyce about how to defend the administration. “It’s like a rebound, right?” This is where the acute elbows come in and ensure that you get the rebound. ”
This story has been updated with additional developments.