The U.S. economy rebounds to 3% growth in second quarter — but tariffs skew picture bybScott Horsley

 he U.S. economy grew this spring after a slowdown earlier in the year. 

 

The nation's gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — grew at an annual rate of 3% in April, May and June, according to a report Wednesday from the Commerce Department. That's a turnaround from the three previous months when GDP contracted at a rate of 0.5%.

Both measures were somewhat distorted by big swings in international trade as businesses and consumers first braced for, then reacted to, President Trump's worldwide tariffs. Imports surged early in the year, as businesses tried to stockpile foreign goods before the tariffs took effect. That had the effect of depressing GDP in January, February and March, because imports are subtracted from the government's measure of economic activity. 

 Imports then dropped in the second quarter of the year as double-digit tariffs took effect, making the spring GDP figure look somewhat rosier. Exports also fell during the quarter.

Growth is still slower overall than previous two years

Consumer spending, which is the biggest driver of economic activity, rose at an annual rate of 1.4% in the spring. Business and residential investment were down during the quarter, while spending by state and local governments rose. 

 

Averaging the first- and second-quarter GDP measures, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of about 1.25% during the first half of the year. That's a slowdown from each of the two previous years, when the economy grew nearly 3%.

"We expect the economy to lose more momentum," said Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconomics. He's projecting annualized GDP growth of only about 1% in the second half of the year, as consumers wrestle with increased prices for imported goods and businesses respond to uncertainty over the Trump administration's economic policies.

Real final sales to private domestic purchasers — which strips out trade and government spending — grew at an annual rate of 1.2% in the second quarter, compared to 1.9% in the first three months of the year. 

 

Jimmy Hoffa vanished 50 years ago. The unsolved mystery and his legend endure by Don Gonyea

 

His full name is James Riddle Hoffa. But everyone knew him as Jimmy. A labor leader who thrived in the rough and tumble world of union organizing, of contracts, and picket lines ... and of standing up for workers right no matter what. When he disappeared it was front-page news. But how many imagined we'd still be talking about that moment 50 years later with the basic question of "what happened?" still unanswered.

The day he disappeared — July 30, 1975 — Hoffa was 62 years old. By then he was a former Teamsters president — released from federal prison where he served time for bribery and focused on reclaiming his place atop the union. He pursued this goal while fully aware of his ongoing status as both a legendary figure in U.S. labor history and in American pop culture. 

 

As a teenager in Detroit, Hoffa took to union organizing early on in the grocery business. He was smart and tough. With an emphasis on tough. A natural strategist, he knew how to pick his targets, organize strikes and boycotts, and he rose through the Teamster ranks earning the deep loyalty of truckers and warehouse workers in a city that was becoming an industrial powerhouse thanks to the automobile industry.

In 1957, Hoffa was named president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

It was a union that was already deeply involved in corrupt activities.

Hoffa negotiated important national contracts for truckers, even as he battled federal officials looking into union ties to organized crime.

 

During his first year as head of the Teamsters, there were high-profile hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington and famous clashes with a young lawyer working for the Senate Labor Committee named Robert F. Kennedy, all of it televised coast to coast in grainy black-and-white images. It was a confrontation made for TV.

It wasn't the last time RFK and Jimmy Hoffa would square off. When John F. Kennedy became president, his brother Robert became his attorney general and used his newfound authority to continue to investigate Hoffa.

 

Eventually, in 1967, Jimmy Hoffa was sent to federal prison having been convicted of bribing a member of a grand jury alongside a separate fraud conviction. After unsuccessful appeals, Hoffa would spend more than four years under lock and key.

It was then-President Richard Nixon who commuted his sentence in 1971 — but there was a catch. Hoffa would go free, but he was forbidden from participating in union activities. A deal was struck, but once out of prison, Hoffa quickly began working to challenge that edict. He began angling to regain the top job at the Teamsters, but that effort was stymied by the fact that the union's current leaders liked being in charge. And they had ties of their own to organized crime and were now firmly in control of the union. In short, Hoffa's old cohort was now a powerful enemy. And they had their own corrupt (and lucrative) operations to protect. 

 

All of which brings us to the events marked by today's milestone anniversary.

On that late July day 50 years ago, Jimmy Hoffa had an afternoon meeting planned at the Macchus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township in the Detroit suburbs. Long closed, it was one of those dimly lit places with deep, plush booths. It's believed that Hoffa planned to meet with a pair of local organized crime leaders.

Hoffa pulled into the parking lot that day. He has not been seen since.

And with his sudden and unexplained disappearance, an already sizable legend became one of the great, enduring mysteries of our times.

What happened to Jimmy Hoffa? Countless theories and conspiracies were born: The mob grabbed him and disposed of the body. He now resides under a freeway in Detroit, or even more famously, under the end zone of Giants Stadium in New Jersey. All such theories are gruesome. None has yet been borne out by evidence. 

 Every year, it seems, new leads are found. A new witness. Another theory. Yellow police tape goes up somewhere. Backhoes and other equipment are brought in. A search ensues.

Then ... nothing. Hoffa was 62 years old when he disappeared.

Though Hoffa was declared legally dead by a Michigan probate court in 1982 — seven years after his disappearance — officially, the Detroit branch of the FBI says the case remains open. 

 

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union in Washington, D.C., marked the anniversary with a statement from current President Sean O'Brien, praising Hoffa's legacy in labor and decrying the "relentless cultural jokes" made of his life.

"For too many years, his death has been the subject of relentless cultural jokes, losing sight of the fact that a family lost a husband and father, and our nation lost an extraordinary leader," O'Brien's statement read. "Today and always, we remember James R. Hoffa — not for the tragedy of his death but for his enduring legacy. He was a visionary with remarkable courage and conviction."

In a former remembrance on the union's website, there's a quote from Hoffa describing the ultimate goal of unionism as "creating sustainable, skilled employment that allows Americans to earn a fair wage with benefits that allows them to pay for housing and food on the table and sustain a middle-class lifestyle."

Dozens upon dozens of books have been written about the disappearance. And, of course, Hollywood has weighed in. Jack Nicholson did a star turn as Hoffa in 1992, while Al Pacino won fine reviews for his portrayal of the embattled labor leader in Martin Scorsese's more recent film, The Irishman.

These likely aren't the last.

And so continues the story and legend of one Jimmy Hoffa.

How the ‘big, beautiful bill’ will deepen the racial wealth gap – a law scholar explains how it reduces poor families’ ability to afford food and health care -Beverly Moran

 

President Donald Trump has said the “big, beautiful bill” he signed into law on July 4, 2025, will stimulate the economy and foster financial security.

But a close look at the legislation reveals a different story, particularly for low-income people and racial and ethnic minorities.

As a legal scholar who studies how taxes increase the gap in wealth and income between Black and white Americans, I believe the law’s provisions make existing wealth inequalities worse through broad tax cuts that disproportionately favor wealthy families while forcing its costs on low- and middle-income Americans.

The widening chasm

The U.S. racial wealth gap is stark. White families’ median wealth between 2019 and 2022 grew to more than $250,000 higher than Black families’ median wealth.

This disparity is the result of decades of discriminatory policies in housing, banking, health care, taxes, education and employment.

The new legislation will widen these chasms through its permanent extension of individual tax cuts in Trump’s 2017 tax reform package. Americans have eight years of experience with those changes and how they hurt low-income families.

 

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, for example, predicted that low-income taxpayers would gain US$70 a year from the 2017 tax cuts. But that figure did not include the results of eliminating the individual mandate that encouraged uninsured people to get health insurance through the federal marketplace. That insurance was heavily subsidized by the federal government.

The Republican majority in Congress predicted that the loss of the mandate would decrease federal spending on health care subsidies. That decrease cost low-income taxpayers over $4,000 per person in lost subsidies.

The Congressional Budget Office examined the net effect of the 2025 bill by combining the tax changes with cuts to programs like Medicaid and food assistance. It found that the bill will reduce poor families’ ability to obtain food and health care. 

 

Wealth-building for whom?

Perhaps the most revealing part of the bill is how it turns ideas for helping low-income families on their head. They are touted as helping the poor – but they help the wealthy instead.

A much publicized feature of the bill is the creation of “Trump Accounts,” a pilot program providing a one-time $1,000 government contribution to a tax-advantaged investment account for children born between 2025 and 2028.

While framed as a “baby bonus” to build wealth, the program’s structure is deeply flawed and regressive. Although the first $1,000 into the accounts comes from the federal government, the real tax benefits go to wealthy families who can avoid paying taxes by contributing up to $5,000 per year to their children’s accounts.

As analysts from the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive economic and social policy think tank, have pointed out, this design primarily benefits affluent families who already have the disposable income to save and can take full advantage of the tax benefits.

For low-income families struggling with daily expenses, making additional contributions is not a realistic option. These accounts do not address the fundamental barrier to saving for low-income families – a lack of income – and are more likely to widen the wealth gap than to close it.

This regressive approach – regressive because the wealthy get larger benefits – to wealth-building is mirrored in the bill’s renewal and enhancement of the New Markets Tax Credit program. Although extended by the “big, beautiful bill” to drive investment into low-income communities by offering capital gains tax breaks to investors, the program subsidizes luxury real estate projects that do little to benefit existing low-income residents and accelerate gentrification and displacement. Studies show that there is very little increase in salaries or education in areas with these benefits.

A harsh new rule

The child tax credit is another part of the bill that purports to help the poor and working classes while, in fact, giving the wealthy more money.

A family can earn up to $400,000 and still get the full $2,200 tax credit per child, which reduces their tax liability dollar for dollar. In contrast, a family making $31,500 or less cannot receive a tax credit of more than $1,750 per child. And approximately 17 million children – disproportionately Black and Latino – will not receive anything at all.

More significantly, the law tightens eligibility by requiring not only the child but also the taxpayer claiming the credit to have a Social Security number. This requirement will strip the credit from approximately 4.5 million U.S. citizen children in mixed-status families – families where some people are citizens, legal residents and people living in the country without legal permission – where parents may file taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number but lack a Social Security number, according to an April 2025 study.

 

A burden on the poor

Perhaps most striking is the law’s “pay-fors” – the provisions designed to offset the cost of the tax cuts.

The legislation makes significant changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, lifelines for millions of low-income families.

The law imposes new monthly “community engagement” requirements, a form of work requirement, for able-bodied adults to maintain Medicaid coverage. The majority of such adults enrolled in Medicaid already work. And many people who do not work are caring full time for young children or are too disabled to work. The law also requires states to conduct eligibility redeterminations twice a year.

Redeterminations and work requirements have historically led to eligible people losing coverage. For SNAP, the bill expands work requirements to some Americans who are up to 64 years old and the parents of older children and revises benefit calculations in ways that will reduce benefits.

By funding tax cuts for the wealthy while making cuts to essential services for the poor, the bill codifies a transfer of resources up the economic ladder.

In my view, the “big, beautiful bill” represents a missed opportunity to leverage fiscal policy to address the American wealth and income gap. Instead of investing in programs to lift up low- and middle-income Americans, the bill emphasizes a regressive approach that will further enrich the wealthy and deepen existing inequalities.

One of the biggest microplastic pollution sources isn’t straws or grocery bags – it’s your tires- Boluwatife S. Olubusoye /James V Cizdziel /

 

Every few years, the tires on your car wear thin and need to be replaced. But where does that lost tire material go?

The answer, unfortunately, is often waterways, where the tiny microplastic particles from the tires’ synthetic rubber carry several chemicals that can transfer into fish, crabs and perhaps even the people who eat them.

We are analytical and environmental chemists who are studying ways to remove those microplastics – and the toxic chemicals they carry – before they reach waterways and the aquatic organisms that live there.

Microplastics, macro-problem

Millions of metric tons of plastic waste enter the world’s oceans every year. In recent times, tire wear particles have been found to account for about 45% of all microplastics in both terrestrial and aquatic systems.

Tires shed tiny microplastics as they move over roadways. Rain washes those tire wear particles into ditches, where they flow into streams, lakes, rivers and oceans.

Along the way, fish, crabs, oysters and other aquatic life often find these tire wear particles in their food. With each bite, the fish also consume extremely toxic chemicals that can affect both the fish themselves and whatever creatures eat them.

 

Some fish species, like rainbow trout, brook trout and coho salmon, are dying from toxic chemicals linked to tire wear particles.

Researchers in 2020 found that more than half of the coho salmon returning to streams in Washington state died before spawning, largely because of 6PPD-Q, a chemical stemming from 6PPD, which is added to tires to help keep them from degrading

 

But the effects of tire wear particles aren’t just on aquatic organisms. Humans and animals alike may be exposed to airborne tire wear particles, especially people and animals who live near major roadways.

In a study in China, the same chemical, 6PPD-Q, was also found in the urine of children and adults. While the effects of this chemical on the human body are still being studied, recent research shows that exposure to this chemical could harm multiple human organs, including the liver, lungs and kidneys.

In Oxford, Mississippi, we identified more than 30,000 tire wear particles in 24 liters of stormwater runoff from roads and parking lots after two rainstorms. In heavy traffic areas, we believe the concentrations could be much higher.

The Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council, a states-led coalition, in 2023 recommended identifying and deploying alternatives to 6PPD in tires to reduce 6PPD-Q in the environment. But tire manufacturers say there’s no suitable replacement yet.

What can communities do to reduce harm?

At the University of Mississippi, we are experimenting with sustainable ways of removing tire wear particles from waterways with accessible and low-cost natural materials from agricultural wastes.

The idea is simple: Capture the tire wear particles before they reach the streams, rivers and oceans.

In a recent study, we tested pine wood chips and biochar – a form or charcoal made from heating rice husks in a limited oxygen chamber, a process known as pyrolysis – and found they could remove approximately 90% of tire wear particles from water runoff at our test sites in Oxford.

Biochar is an established material for removing contaminants from water due to its large surface area and pores, abundant chemical binding groups, high stability, strong adsorption capacity and low cost. Wood chips, because of their rich composition of natural organic compounds, have also been shown to remove contaminants. Other scientists have also used sand to filter out microplastics, but its removal rate was low compared with biochar. 

 

We designed a biofiltration system using biochar and wood chips in a filter sock and placed it at the mouth of a drainage outlet. Then we collected stormwater runoff samples and measured the tire wear particles before and after the biofilters were in place during two storms over the span of two months. The concentration of tire wear particles was found to be significantly lower after the biofilter was in place.

The unique elongated and jagged features of tire wear particles make it easy for them to get trapped or entangled in the pores of these materials during a storm event. Even the smallest tire wear particles were trapped in the intricate network of these materials.

Using biomass filters in the future

We believe this approach holds strong potential for scalability to mitigate tire wear particle pollution and other contaminants during rainstorms.

Since biochar and wood chips can be generated from agricultural waste, they are relatively inexpensive and readily available to local communities.

Long-term monitoring studies will be needed, especially in heavy traffic environments, to fully determine the effectiveness and scalability of the approach. The source of the filtering material is also important. There have been some concerns about whether raw farm waste that has not undergone pyrolysis could release organic pollutants.

Like most filters, the biofilters would need to be replaced over time – with used filters disposed of properly – since the contaminants build up and the filters degrade.

Plastic waste is harming the environment, the food people eat and potentially human health. We believe biofilters made from plant waste could be an effective and relatively inexpensive, environmentally friendly solution.

 

New Tax Breaks for Tips, Overtime, and Car Loans Aren’t Quite What They Seem by Sheryl Rowling

 These three new tax deductions offer some relief but come with significant limitations.

As a certified public accountant, my job is to give you the real scoop on tax legislation. The Omnibus Budget and Balanced Budget Act of 2025, or OBBBA, signed into law on July 4, 2025, has generated buzz about “great benefits” for taxpayers. I’m here to tell you these benefits might not be as grand or as widespread as advertised. Let’s look at three provisions touted as tax breaks:

1) Your Tips: Not So Tax-Free After All

The OBBBA offers an “above-the-line” deduction for qualified tips, capped at $25,000 for singles ($50,000 for married couples). This is temporary for tax years 2025-28.

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Here’s why it’s not the windfall many expect:

• Limited by Your Tax Bracket: Your federal income tax savings directly depend on your tax bracket. If you’re in a lower bracket, your actual dollar savings will be smaller. Example: Karen, in the 12% federal tax bracket, earns $8,000 in qualifying tips. Her federal tax savings? Just $960 ($8,000 x 0.12).
• Payroll Taxes Still Apply: This is key! While you get an income tax deduction, your tips remain subject to Social Security and Medicare, or FICA, taxes. Your share is 7.65%. Example: Polly, a server, reports $30,000 in tips in 2025. Even with a potential $25,000 federal income tax deduction, she’ll still owe $1,912.50 in FICA taxes on that $25,000 ($25,000 x 7.65%).
• Income Limitations: The deduction phases out for those with modified adjusted gross income over $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers). For every $1,000 over, your deduction drops by $100. High earners could see little or no benefit. Example: Terry, a maître d’, has a 2025 adjusted gross income of $160,000, including $28,000 in tips. His AGI is $10,000 over the $150,000 threshold. His $25,000 tip deduction is reduced by $1,000 ($10,000/$1,000 x $100), leaving him with a $24,000 deduction.
• Reporting Matters: Only “qualified tips” reported to your employer on Form W-2 (or Form 1099 for contractors) are eligible. No reporting, no deduction.

 

2) Overtime: The ‘No Tax’ Illusion

The OBBBA also offers a temporary federal income tax deduction for “qualified overtime compensation,” capped at $12,500 for singles ($25,000 for married couples) for tax years 2025-28.

Here’s the reality:

• Tax-Bracket Impact: Like tips, your federal tax savings are tied to your tax bracket. Example: Bill, in the 12% federal bracket, earns $5,000 in qualified overtime. He saves only $600 in federal taxes.
• Still Subject to Payroll Taxes: Overtime earnings, including the deductible portion, are still hit with FICA taxes. Example: Sarah earns an extra $15,000 in qualifying overtime. Even if she deducts $12,500 from her federal taxable income, she’ll still pay $956.25 in FICA taxes on that deductible amount ($12,500 x 7.65%).
• Limited to Premium Pay: Only the extra portion of your overtime pay qualifies. If your regular rate is $20 per hour and overtime is $30 per hour, only the $10 premium per hour is deductible.
• Income Limitations: This deduction phases out for singles with AGI over $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers), reducing by $100 for every $1,000 over. Example: Steve’s AGI is $170,000, including $14,000 in qualified overtime premium. His deduction limit is $12,500. Being $20,000 over the threshold, his deduction is reduced by $2,000 ($20,000/$1,000 x $100), leaving him with a $10,500 deduction.
• FLSA Overtime Only: The deduction applies specifically to overtime required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. State-mandated or contractual overtime generally doesn’t qualify.

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3) Deducting Car Loan Interest: A Short Ride

The OBBBA introduces a new, temporary above-the-line deduction for interest paid on car loans. For 2025-28, you can deduct up to $10,000 annually on interest for loans on new vehicles with final assembly in the United States.

Why this perk might not be what you imagine:

• Tax-Bracket Impact: Again, your tax savings depend on your bracket. Example: Nick, in the 12% federal bracket, pays $4,000 in qualified car loan interest. He saves $480 in federal taxes.
• New and U.S.-Assembled Restrictions: This is a major hurdle. It’s only for new cars (no used cars) whose final assembly took place in the US. Example: Maria buys a used car, paying $1,500 in interest. No deduction. Chris buys a new car assembled in Germany, paying $2,000 in interest. Still no deduction.
• Income Limitations: This deduction also phases out for single filers with adjusted gross income over $100,000 ($200,000 for joint filers), reducing at a 20% rate for every dollar over the threshold. Example: Janet, a single filer with an AGI of $120,000, pays $8,000 in qualifying interest. Being $20,000 over the $100,000 threshold, her $8,000 deduction is reduced by $4,000 ($20,000 x 0.2), allowing only a $4,000 deduction.

The Bottom Line

Approach these tax breaks with skepticism. While they offer some relief, they’re far from universal and come with significant limitations. Don’t assume you’ll hit the jackpot because a headline sounds good. Always read the fine print and, better yet, consult a tax professional to understand how these provisions have an impact on your unique financial situation

GOP megabill’s final score: $3.4T in red ink and 10 million kicked off health insurance, CBO says By Jennifer Scholtes, Robert King and Benjamin Guggenheim

 The package President Donald Trump signed on July 4 would grow the deficit over the next 10 years, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper predicts. 

 Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper released its final prediction Monday for how President Donald Trump’s signature legislative achievement will grow the national debt and affect U.S. households.

Over the next decade, the megabill Trump signed on July 4 would increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion and cause 10 million people to lose health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office forecasts. While the newly enacted legislation would save more than $1 trillion by cutting federal spending on health care — with the majority coming from Medicaid — CBO predicts that the package’s costs will far outweigh its savings.

 The bulk of the red ink from the package comes from the GOP’s permanent extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. The analysis finds that the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, enacted policies that would decrease the incoming federal cash flow from taxes by a total of $4.5 trillion. That sum includes the cost of tax cuts Republicans added during Senate floor debate of the package.

 CBO’s new uninsured figure is below its prior estimate of 11.8 million people. The agency said it will offer details on the differences in the coming weeks, but one source of the reduction is removal of a policy in the final version of the megabill that would have led to an estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants losing coverage.

The budget office also recalculated savings from agriculture policies. In the final days before the bill cleared Congress, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) led negotiations to soften a requirement to make states pay for part of SNAP food assistance, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program.

Cuts to federal agriculture spending and the bill’s overhaul of the food aid program will save $120 billion over the next decade, CBO predicts.

A prior version of the legislation also offset costs with policies intended to penalize states that offer coverage to undocumented immigrants out of their own coffers. Undocumented immigrants are prohibited from getting Medicaid coverage, but a dozen states and the District of Columbia pay for services with their own funds.

The bill originally cut funding for states that had opted to expand Medicaid under the Democrats’ 2010 health law, but the provision was dropped in the final version due to an objection from the Senate parliamentarian.

 At the request of Senate Republicans, CBO also included an analysis using a new accounting tactic that zeroes out the cost of permanently extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. Senate Republicans have argued that merely extending current tax rates shouldn’t be counted towards the deficit and that traditional accounting used by CBO biases against preventing tax increases.

Under the separate analysis, also released on Monday, the sweeping domestic policy bill would increase the federal deficit by only $366 billion.

This is the summer of flooding across the US, and scientists know why By Andrew Freedman

 

Once synonymous with leisure and reprieve, summer has increasingly become a season marked by anxiety and disruption. Fossil fuel pollution — alongside other compounding factors — has transformed these months into a time of mounting peril, punctuated by relentless heat waves, rampant wildfires and catastrophic flooding.

This summer, in particular, has been defined by a tragic surge in deadly flash floods across the United States, underscoring the escalating volatility of our warming world.

It’s no accident this is the summer of flooding, climate scientists say, with 100-year to 1,000-year deluges happening nearly simultaneously in multiple states on multiple days.

Large parts of the US have seen an unusually humid summer with record amounts of moisture in the air. When cold fronts and other weather systems come along, that moisture can get wrung out, squeezed like a water-laden sponge, yielding heavy and often highly localized downpours.

For much of the summer, the atmospheric conditions over the US have funneled humid air north from the unusually warm Gulf and western Atlantic, including the Gulf Stream, UCLA climate researcher Daniel Swain told CNN. This has yielded unusually high levels of moisture at all levels of the atmosphere across the US east of the Rockies, Swain said.

It has led to record levels of what meteorologists call precipitable water, which is the amount of rain that would result from instantaneously extracting all the water in the air. 

 This pattern has led to one flash flood after another. 

 

First and foremost, there was the devastating Texas flood that killed more than 130 people on the night of July 4. But flash flood events have been focused elsewhere as well. Three people were killed in a flash flood related to torrential rains falling on a wildfire burn scar in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on July 8.

Some major roads in Chicago were suddenly under water when a 1,000-year rainfall event struck in early July. In portions of North Carolina, the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal led to deadly heavy rain and flooding the same weekend as the Texas tragedy. In New York City, water rushed into the subway tunnels when the city saw its second-heaviest rainfall total in one hour on July 14, with widespread flash flooding lasting into the 15th. And this past week, it was Kansas City’s turn to flood on July 17. 

 

Some of these floods resulted from rainfall that has a return frequency of about 1,000 years, meaning it has just a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year. But climate change is loading the dice in favor of extreme precipitation.

“When we talk about e.g. ‘1000 year’ events, we’re talking about the likelihood of these events in the absence of human-caused warming (i.e. how often we would expect them from natural variability alone),” said climate scientist Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania. “These events are of course much more frequent *because* of human-caused warming,” he said in an email. 

 But his research has identified other factors, such as persistent large-scale weather patterns known as “atmospheric resonance,” that can make extreme weather, including floods, even more likely. Just as sound waves or ocean waves can resonate and reinforce each other, atmospheric resonance can happen to undulating jet stream patterns in the upper atmosphere, resulting in weather systems that stay in place for weeks.

 

A recent study Mann worked on found such weather patterns have tripled in incidence since the mid-20th century during the summer months. The problem is these patterns are “not necessarily well-captured in climate models,” he said. This increases uncertainty about future projections for extreme weather trends.

The influence of climate change on heavy rainfall is most evident when it comes to short duration extreme events, like what has happened repeatedly this summer, according to Swain.

“It is not average precipitation that really is most affected by climate change,” Swain said. “It truly is mathematically correct that the more extreme the rain event, the clearer the connection to climate change is.” 

 

The physics of how global warming affects heavy precipitation events is well known, according to climate scientist Kate Marvel.

“This is almost a textbook example of climate change impacts,” she told CNN. “The science behind it is so basic you can see it in daily life. Warm water drives more evaporation — the bathroom gets much steamier after a hot bath than a cold one,” she said. 

 “Warm air contains more water vapor — a cold beer gets wet on the outside on a hot day, because when air comes into contact with the cooler surface, it has to condense out its water vapor,” Marvel said. 

 

“Warm ground makes it easier for moist air to balloon upwards – this is why thunderstorms happen on hot summer afternoons. Put these all together, and you get the perfect conditions for torrential rain,” said Marvel, author of the new climate book “Human Nature.”

“Whether a downpour turns into a catastrophic flood depends on a lot of things: how porous the ground is, the topography of the area, the people and things in harm’s way. But there is absolutely no doubt that climate change, caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is making extreme rainfall more extreme.” 

 

News 9 radar damaged in apparent attack by anti-government militia group by Anna Pope

 

Early this week, security video footage shows an individual damaging News 9’s NextGen Live Weather Radar, temporarily knocking it offline.

The Oklahoma City televison station reports Veterans on Patrol, which the Southern Poverty Law Center defines as an anti-government militia, is claiming responsibility and targeting other Oklahoma radars. Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, the founder of Veterans On Patrol, told the station he posted a sign warning of other radars being targeted near weather radar. He said he believes the government is modifying the weather, according to the article.

"They can embed their technology and civilian infrastructure in every home and every household utilizing the phones and their network towers to not only control the weather, modify the weather, but they can (target) individuals," Meyer said in the article.

But David Payne, News 9 Chief Meteorologist, said that’s not what weather radars do and without it, they cannot track weather events like tornadoes.

“I wish it were that easy,” Payne said in the article. “I wish that we could turn it on and say ‘Oh let’s make that tornado go away,’ but our weather radar and all of the weather radars in the U.S. are built strictly to inform and warn the public, and keep the public safe and that is exactly why we have our live radar.”

News 9 reports the individual suspected of damaging the radar is under arrest in an unrelated case.

In a statement, Sarah Stewart, director of media operations for the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, said the Oklahoma Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center monitors threats to critical infrastructure in the state.

"If you see suspicious activity near critical infrastructures, it’s important to report it via the free ProtectOk app," Stewart said in the statement. "If you witness vandalism taking place, call 911 immediately."

Radars monitor the weather across the state and nation. Doppler radars date back to the 1940s and technology advances have made it one of the most effective tools to warn the public of hazardous weather, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Erica Grow Cei, a NOAA public affairs specialist and meteorologist, said in an email that the agency is aware of the threats against Next Generation Weather Radar sites and is working with authorities to monitor the situation.

Houston Hunt, vice president of marketing for Griffin Media, which is the parent company of News 9, said in an email the company works to ensure there are no service interruptions as people depend on the radar’s information.

Hunt said the tool is important and can be seen when it comes to weather in the state, and it was unfortunate for the local radar to be temporarily knocked offline for several hours.

“Our weather teams and thousands of Oklahomans rely on the information gathered from this radar and others to keep themselves and their families safe during severe weather as well as planning their days and any interruption of service is incredibly unfortunate,” Hunt said.

 

What is the ‘Seven Mountains Mandate’ and how is it linked to political extremism in the US? Art Jipson

 

Vance Boelter, who allegedly shot Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband, Mark Hortman, on June 14, 2025, studied at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas. The group is a Bible school linked to the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR.

The NAR is a loosely organized but influential charismatic Christian movement that shares similarities with Pentecostalism, especially in its belief that God actively communicates with believers through the Holy Spirit. Unlike traditional Pentecostalism, however, the organization emphasizes modern-day apostles and prophets as authoritative leaders tasked with transforming society and ushering in God’s kingdom on Earth. Prayer, prophecy and worship are defined not only as acts of devotion but as strategic tools for advancing believers’ vision of government and society

After the shooting, the Christ for the Nations Institute issued a statement “unequivocally” denouncing “any and all forms of violence and extremism.” It stated: “Our organization’s mission is to educate and equip students to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through compassion, love, prayer, service, worship, and value for human life.” 

 

But the shooting has drawn attention to the school and the larger Christian movement it belongs to. One of the most important aspects of NAR teachings today is what is called “the Seven Mountain Mandate.”

The Seven Mountain Mandate calls on Christians to gain influence, or “take dominion,” over seven key areas of culture: religion, family, education, government, media, business and the arts.

With over three decades of experience studying extremism, I offer a brief overview of the history and core beliefs of the Seven Mountains Mandate.

 

Dominion of Christians’

The Seven Mountains concept was originally proposed in 1975 by evangelical leader Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. Now known as “Cru,” the Campus Crusade for Christ was founded as a global ministry in 1951 to promote Christian evangelism, especially on college campuses.

United by a shared vision to influence society through Christian values, Bright partnered with Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission, a major international missionary training and outreach organization, in the 1970s.

The Seven Mountains Mandate was popularized by theologian Francis Schaeffer, who linked it to a larger critique of secularism and liberal culture. Over time, it evolved.

C. Peter Wagner, a former seminary professor who helped organize and name the New Apostolic Reformation, is often regarded as the theological architect of the group. He developed it into a call for dominion. In his 2008 book “Dominion! How Kingdom Action Can Change the World,” he urged Christians to take authoritative control of cultural institutions.

For Wagner, “dominion theology” – the idea that Christians should have control over all aspects of society – was a call to spiritual warfare, so that God’s kingdom would be “manifested here on earth as it is in heaven.” 

 

Since 1996, Bill Johnson, a senior leader of Bethel Church, and Johnny Enlow, a self-described prophet and Seven Mountains advocate, among others, have taken the original idea of the Seven Mountains Mandate and reshaped it into a more aggressive, political and spiritually militant approach. Spiritual militancy reflects an aggressive, us-vs.-them mindset that blurs the line between faith and authoritarianism, promoting dominion over society in the name of spiritual warfare.

Their version doesn’t just aim to influence culture; it frames the effort as a spiritual battle to reclaim and reshape the nation according to their vision of God’s will.

Lance Wallnau, another Christian evangelical preacher, televangelist, speaker and author, has promoted dominion theology since the early 2000s. During the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Wallnau, along with several prominent NAR figures, described Donald Trump as anointed by God to reclaim the “mountain” of government from demonic control.

In their book “Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountains Mandate,” Wallnau and Johnson explicitly call for Christian leadership as the only antidote to perceived moral decay and spiritual darkness.

The beliefs

Sometimes referred to as Seven Mountains of Influence or Seven Mountains of Culture, the seven mountains are not neutral domains but seen as battlegrounds between divine truth and demonic deception.

Adherents believe that Christians are called to reclaim these areas through influence, leadership and even, if necessary, the use of force and to confront demonic political forces, as religion scholar Matthew Taylor demonstrates in his book “The Violent Take It By Force.”

Diverse perspectives and interpretations surround the rhetoric and actions associated with the New Apostolic Reformation. Some analysts have pointed out how the NAR is training its followers for an active confrontation. Other commentators have said that the rhetoric calling for physical violence is anti-biblical and should be denounced.

NAR-aligned leaders have framed electoral contests as struggles between “godly” candidates and those under the sway of “satanic” influence.

Similarly, NAR prophet Cindy Jacobs has repeatedly emphasized the need for “spiritual warfare” in schools to combat what she characterizes as “demonic ideologies” such as sex education, LGBTQ+ inclusion or discussions of systemic racism.

In the NAR worldview, cultural change is not merely political or social but considered a supernatural mission; opponents are not simply wrong but possibly under the sway of demonic influence. Elections become spiritual battles.

This belief system views pluralism as weakness, compromise as betrayal, and coexistence as capitulation. Frederick Clarkson, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, a progressive think tank based in Somerville, Massachusetts, defines the Seven Mountains Mandate as “the theocratic idea that Christians are called by God to exercise dominion over every aspect of society by taking control of political and cultural institutions.”

The call to “take back” the culture is not metaphorical but literal, and believers are encouraged to see themselves as soldiers in a holy war to dominate society. Some critics argue that NAR’s call to “take back” culture is about literal domination, but this interpretation is contested.

Many within the movement see the language of warfare as spiritually focused on prayer, evangelism and influencing hearts and minds. Still, the line between metaphor and mandate can blur, especially when rhetoric about “dominion” intersects with political and cultural action. That tension is part of an ongoing debate both within and outside the movement.

Networks that spread the beliefs

This belief system is no longer confined to the margins. It is spread widely through evangelical churches, podcasts, YouTube videos and political networks.

It’s hard to know exactly how many churches are part of the New Apostolic Reformation, but estimates suggest that about 3 million people in the U.S. attend churches that openly follow NAR leaders.

At the same time, the Seven Mountains Mandate doesn’t depend on centralized leadership or formal institutions. It spreads organically through social networks, social media – notably podcasts and livestreams – and revivalist meetings and workshops.

André Gagné, a theologian and author of “American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times,” writes about the ways in which the mandate spreads by empowering local leaders and believers. Individuals are authorized – often through teachings on spiritual warfare, prophetic gifting, and apostolic leadership – to see themselves as agents of divine transformation in society, called to reclaim the “mountains,” such as government, media and education, for God’s kingdom.

This approach, Gagné explains, allows different communities to adapt the action mandate to their unique cultural, political and social contexts. It encourages individuals to see themselves as spiritual warriors and leaders in their domains – whether in business, education, government, media or the arts.

Small groups or even individuals can start movements or initiatives without waiting for top-down directives. The only recognized authorities are the apostles and prophets running the church or church network the believers attend.

The framing of the Seven Mountains Mandate as a divinely inspired mission, combined with the movement’s emphasis on direct spiritual experiences and a specific interpretation of scripture, can create an environment where questioning the mandate is perceived as challenging God’s authority.

Slippery slope

 These beliefs have increasingly fused with nationalist rhetoric and conspiracy theories

 

A powerful example of NAR political rhetoric in action is the rise and influence of the “Appeal to Heaven” flags. For those in the New Apostolic Reformation, these flags symbolize the belief that when all earthly authority fails, people have the right to appeal directly to God’s authority to justify resistance.

This was evident during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, when these flags were prominently displayed.

To be clear, its leaders are not calling for violence but rather for direct political engagement and protest. For some believers, however, the calls for “spiritual warfare” may become a slippery slope into justification for violence, as in the case of the alleged Minnesota shooter.

Understanding the Seven Mountains Mandate is essential for grasping the dynamics of contemporary efforts to align government and culture with a particular vision of Christian authority and influence.

 

Prices are now starting to rise because of tariffs. Economists say this is just the beginning by Alicia Wallace,

 

Economists, researchers and analysts have warned that President Donald Trump’s sweeping trade policy of tacking steep tariffs on most goods that come into America will deliver a taxing blow to consumers via higher prices.

However, recent months’ economic data has shown that overall inflation has remained fairly tame.

Trump and members of his administration tout the positive economic reports as signs that tariffs are working. However, the chorus of concern is growing: Prices are moving higher, and economists say this is just the beginning. 

 

Here’s a look at the mechanisms behind why price hikes, and hotter inflation, are a slow burn:

Tariffs have been applied in a staggered manner: The earliest tariffs went into effect in February (China, non-USMCA goods) and March (steel, aluminum), but the bulk were not announced or applied until April or later.

Trade policy and tariffs are in flux: There have been plenty of instances where announced tariffs have been postponed, suddenly nixed, or unexpectedly increased or decreased in size.

Shipping takes time: Sea cargo shipments can take weeks to more than a month to reach the US from other countries.

Domestic supply chains take time, too: Once goods land on US soil, they don’t hit shelves the very next day. In addition to domestic transport times, the imported products (which are not always finished goods but rather parts and materials) have to still go through the manufacturing and production processes before being distributed to sales channels.

Inventories were loaded up before tariffs hit: Near the end of last year, businesses frontloaded import orders to prepare for any disruptions that could come from a massive, and short-lived East and Gulf Coast port strike and also to get ahead of potential tariffs. Those stockpiling efforts surged this year as steep — and unexpectedly expansive — tariffs came into view and during periods in which they were postponed or lessened.

Some costs are being eaten: First, foreign exporters are absorbing some of the added costs. A Goldman Sachs analysis puts that share at about 20%, meaning that the remaining 80% of higher costs from tariffs (which are added to the price of wholesale goods when they hit US soil) have been split between US businesses and US consumers. Goldman Sachs economists expect that eventually about 70% of the direct cost of tariffs will be passed onto consumers through higher prices. (However, that 70% could move higher, depending on how much domestic producers change their prices as well, according to the analysis).

Businesses are hesitant to pass on higher prices: Consumers, hammered for years by a bout of high inflation, don’t have the appetite — or the savings — for higher prices. “Firms’ pricing power is just getting a little weakened because consumer spending is starting to soften,” Nicole Cervi, a Wells Fargo economist, told CNN.

Awareness of goods prices is lower in summer than fall and winter: The US is a service-heavy economy, especially in the summertime, when spending is directed more at travel, recreation and leisure. However, some goods prices are already on the rise, and companies are warning more are on the way. However, goods will play a more central role in household budgets come fall and winter, when back-to-school season and spendy holidays such as Halloween and Christmas hit. “I think some of this might become more real for people” later this year, said Tyler Schipper, associate professor in economics and data analysis at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

 

Economic data is often lagged: Next week, for example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release critical inflation data that covers the month of June.

Inflation indices are comprehensive: Rising goods prices are showing up in the inflation data; however, they’ve largely been overshadowed by factors such as falling gas prices and a continued slowing of price hikes for services, particularly rent and housing. As such, inflation data to this point has remained fairly muted — for now.

“It’s not surprising that tariff effects have not shown up strongly in official consumer prices yet,” according to a Goldman Sachs’ July 8 note.

Prices are already rising, inflation is at a ‘turning point’

However, the seemingly muted headline inflation numbers don’t tell the full story: Goods prices — particularly in tariff-exposed categories — are already on the rise, both private-sector and federal data shows.

The May Consumer Price Index showed that several tariff-sensitive categories saw price increases:

• The price of appliances rose by 0.8% in both April and May, the highest monthly increase in nearly four years.
• Toy prices climbed for the second consecutive month, leaping by 1.3% (matching a four-year high).
• Household furnishings, tools and sporting goods showed an acceleration in price hikes after post-Covid years when prices fell.

A DataWeave analysis of 200,000 products on 13 major US e-commerce sites show that prices have risen since January:

• Home and furniture prices have accelerated for the past five months as compared to January: up 1.1% in February, 2.1% in March, 2.8% in April, 3.7% in May and 4.7% in June.
• Toys showed a similar trajectory, but on a smaller scale: Prices were up 3.8% in June versus January.
• Apparel and footwear prices were fairly flat in February through May but shot a little higher in June, up 1.7% from January.
• Some price hikes are even greater at some retailers: For example, toys at Walmart and Target were up 7.4% and 6.1% from January, versus the average increase of 3.8%, respectively.

“The percentage changes are definitely higher than what we’ve seen in previous years,” Karthik Bettadapura, co-founder and CEO of DataWeave, told CNN in an interview.

In June 2024, for example, home and furniture prices were up 1.9% from January, toy prices were up 0.4%, and apparel and footwear were up 0.7%, DataWeave data shows.

Bettadapura said he anticipates a further and broader “price creep” in the coming months as tariffs ripple through the supply chain. And given ongoing pushback on higher prices, he expects there also to be a rise in shrinkflation (where brands may trim package sizes) and private-label expansion. 

 

The June CPI, due out next week, also is expected to be the “turning point” where the steeply higher effective tariff rate will make a bigger mark on overall inflation, said Wells Fargo’s Cervi, noting expected gains in the closely watched core goods category (which excludes gas and food).

“The core goods side will start to leg up higher because of this tariff pass-through starting to take effect,” she said.

Wells Fargo expects that the overall CPI could peak at 2.9% later this year (in part because of the further disinflationary effects from the services side).

But even if inflationary impacts are “modest,” the effects on Americans could cut deeper, said Schipper, from the University of St. Thomas.

“Right now, I am less concerned about inflation building on itself,” Schipper said. “There’s still a cost to consumers that are struggling.”

 

Texas flood forecasts were accurate. It wasn’t enough to save lives.by Chelsea Harvey

 The National Weather Service issued timely alerts, meteorologists say, but few were listening in the hours before the early morning flash floods. 

 The catastrophic floods that struck central Texas on Friday show that accurate weather forecasts alone aren’t enough to save lives.

The National Weather Service issued timely warnings in advance of the deadly floods, meteorologists say. But they emphasized that forecasts are only one piece of an effective response — local authorities must be able to interpret weather warnings, communicate them to the public and help communities get to safety in time.

 

Now more than 80 people are dead, with dozens more missing across the region as of Monday morning, including at least 10 campers and a counselor from Camp Mystic summer camp on the banks of the flooded Guadalupe River.

Experts are still piecing together the reasons why.

“I think this situation needs to be reviewed, both from a forecast and warning perspective and from a decision support perspective,” said Louis Uccellini, former director of the National Weather Service. “That involves a lot of work.”

Authorities have resorted to finger-pointing in the wake of the floods.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s top elected official, said at a press conference Friday that “we didn’t know this kind of flood was coming.” Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd suggested at a separate press conference that NWS forecasts fell short in advance of the floods.

Experts say that isn’t true.

Meteorologists can see extreme thunderstorms coming days ahead, but it’s notoriously hard to pinpoint the exact amount of rain they’ll produce, or how long they will linger in place, so far in advance. Meteorologists have to update their forecasts as better information becomes available.

 

n the case of last week’s floods, NWS began to escalate its warnings as much as 12 hours in advance, issuing flood watches beginning Thursday afternoon and upgrading to a flash flood warning by 1 a.m. local time Friday, with more urgent warnings following into the early morning.

“There have been claims that NOAA/NWS did not foresee catastrophic TX floods — but that’s simply not true,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA in a lengthy Bluesky thread defending the NWS weather forecasts.

Still, Swain added that “even quite good weather forecasts do not automatically translate into life-saving predictions — there’s a lot of other work that has to take place to contextualize the forecast and ensure it gets to [the] right people.”

Forecasts aren’t enough

Vacancies in top roles at some local NWS offices serving affected communities in Texas are cause for concern, some experts say.

The NWS office in San Angelo, which serves some of the hardest-hit communities, has no permanent meteorologist in charge, according to a list of vacancies published by the agency in June. And the Austin/San Antonio office, also serving flooded communities, is missing its warning coordination meteorologist and a science and operations officer, according to the same list.

 

These roles often serve as liaisons between NWS meteorologists and local authorities or emergency managers. Warning coordination meteorologists, in particular, help translate forecasts into usable action plans that can aid the local authorities who make decisions and evacuate communities as severe weather systems approach.

It’s unclear whether those vacancies have affected coordination with local authorities. Top meteorologists at NWS San Angelo and NWS Austin/San Antonio did not immediately respond to questions about whether the openings posed any challenges during the floods.

But Tom Fahy, legislative director at the union that represents NWS employees, said in an interview that vacancies at the Texas offices did not cause any problems during the floods.

The offices called “all hands on deck” to ensure that they were fully staffed during the emergency, he said, adding that “they knew this was a critical life and death situation — bodies and lives were on the line in this one.”

NOAA spokesperson Erica Grow Cei provided a timeline of NWS warnings between Thursday and Friday, confirming that the first flood watch went out at 1:18 p.m. local time Thursday and the first flash flood warning was issued at 11:41 p.m. for Bandera County. Another flash flood warning — tagged “considerable” to indicate a threat of major damage — was issued at 1:14 a.m. for Bandera and Kerr counties, triggering wireless emergency alerts on enabled devices and warnings on NOAA Weather Radio.

 

“National Weather Service is heartbroken by the tragic loss of life in Kerr County,” Cei said in an emailed statement, adding that the agency “remains committed to our mission to serve the American public through our forecasts and decision support services.”

Still, cellphone and radio alerts aren’t always enough to prevent loss of life during disasters. They can’t help people who disable their alerts, don’t have cellphone service or don’t have radios.

Late-night and early-morning warnings can be an even greater challenge to distribute, when much of the public is asleep. Friday’s floods occurred in the early hours of the morning, with the most urgent warnings issued after 1 a.m.

“The crux of this disaster is a failure of the last mile of communication,” Fahy said. “The forecasts went out, they communicated the forecasts, they disseminated the watches and warnings. And the dilemma we have is there was nobody listening at 4 o’clock in the morning for these watches and warnings.”

Most people who died in Friday’s floods were located in Kerr County, which does not have a warning system, according to Kelly, the Kerry County judge, at a Friday news conference. Other cities in central Texas, like San Marcos, deploy outdoor weather sirens to warn of extreme weather events like floods and tornadoes, as local news reports have pointed out.

 

n an interview with The New York Times, Kelly suggested that warning systems are expensive and “taxpayers won’t pay for it.”

Questions also remain about disaster protocols at Camp Mystic, where at least 11 people remained missing as of Sunday afternoon.

A policy on the camp’s website suggests that campers are not permitted to have cellphones, smart watches, iPads or other devices with touchscreens. It’s unclear whether counselors had access to devices equipped with emergency alerts or whether the camp had access to a NOAA weather radio.

When asked Friday why nearby summer camps weren’t evacuated in a timely manner, Kelly told reporters, “I can’t answer that.”

Shrinking government

Friday’s floods have reignited concerns among scientists and disaster specialists about the impacts of the Trump administration’s cuts to federal agencies tasked with responding to extreme weather events.

Hurricane season began last month amid widespread chaos at NOAA and FEMA. Experts have warned that smaller disasters, like extreme thunderstorms and floods, are also likely to strain the federal government’s disaster response systems this summer.

 

That comes as extreme rainfall events and floods grow more intense as the climate warms.

Record-breaking rainfall, like the kind that caused the Texas floods, is exactly the kind of event “which is increasing the fastest in [a] warming climate,” said Swain in his Bluesky thread. “So it’s not a question of whether climate change played a role — it’s only a question of how much.”

Staffing shortages at the National Weather Service are an ongoing concern at offices across the country. The Trump administration also recently cut funding meant to help NWS warning coordination meteorologists travel for meetings and tabletop exercises with local authorities, Fahy said. These meetings, he said, help NWS staff members and emergency managers plan together for extreme events.

“We can’t predict where the next severe storm or high-impact weather event will take place,” Fahy said. “Therefore, we have to ask that the administration reconsider their decision to suspend the funding for the warning coordination meteorologists.”

Meanwhile, uncertainties are still swirling around the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

 President Donald Trump has on multiple occasions vowed to overhaul the agency in ways that may make states responsible for more of the costs associated with extreme weather events. Trump has also declined to respond to 12 requests for federal disaster aid that governors have submitted since mid-May, federal records show.

Trump, however, approved disaster aid Sunday for Kerr County, which will aid in recovery efforts and help county residents pay for emergency lodging, home repairs and supplies. It was the president’s first disaster declaration since June 19, when he approved aid for parts of Tennessee that were damaged by tornadoes in April.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said his administration will seek to work with FEMA to assess the overall damage and determine whether additional counties should be eligible for FEMA aid.

When asked by reporters Sunday whether he is still planning to phase out FEMA, Trump deflected.

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