By now, you’ve likely heard of the flash floods that killed more than 120 people in Texas. But as more reporting has emerged about FEMA’s response to the disaster, it is worth taking a moment to illustrate how Trump’s cuts will have an immediate impact on the most basic ways we engage with the government. While Trump promised that cuts to the agency would make it more nimble and better able to respond to disasters, unsurprisingly, the exact opposite has happened. 

The single change that most delayed FEMA’s response to the floods is a new policy that requires Kristi Noem, the rootin’-tootin’-dog-shootin’ head of the Department of Homeland Security (which oversees, among other things, ICE and FEMA), to personally approve any expenses greater than $100,000. FEMA’s budget is more than $30 billion, and disaster aid is inherently expensive, so this caused serious issues. For example, as CNN reported, FEMA usually pre-positions search and rescue teams near imminent disaster zones. But Noem didn’t authorize FEMA’s deployment of the rescuers for more than 72 hours after the flooding began. 

Another example: after a disaster, thousands of people access aid by calling FEMA help centers. On July 5, the day after flooding began, FEMA answered 3,018 of the 3,027 calls from disaster survivors. But the New York Times reported that on that evening, Noem did not renew the agreements with the contractors who handle the vast majority of calls. That meant that on July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered only 846, and on the ...

In Leavenworth, Kansas, a coalition of activists is organizing to prevent the reopening of the Leavenworth Detention Center, a for-profit prison. The world’s largest private prison operator, CoreCivic, wants to use the facility to inter immigrants (and sometimes American citizens) awaiting deportation. Before being shut down in 2021, the prison was described by the Missouri Independent as “an understaffed ‘hell hole’ of violence, death and drugs.” When stabbings, sexual assaults, and murders took place within its walls, local police were barred from investigating. It’s telling that in a town with five other prisons (and a new $500 million federal penitentary under construction), residents want to keep CoreCivic out. 

The coalition, which includes nuns, former inmates, and former prison guards, has found success. They sued to prevent the prison from opening, claiming that the prison failed to get necessary permits. That argument won them a temporary injunction from a ...

Last Wednesday, Trump threatened 50 percent tariffs on Brazil unless the country ended its prosecution of its former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro. (Bolsonaro was a key Trump ally while in office, and embraced the moniker “Trump of the Tropics” on the campaign trail.) And perhaps another reason for Trump’s admiration: Bolsonaro is charged with orchestrating an unsuccessful coup that shares many similarities to Trump’s January 6 riots. 

After Bolsonaro lost the 2023 election to left-wing candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known affectionately as Lula), his supporters camped around military barracks to try and convince soldiers to overthrow the government. After that didn’t work, thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Brazil’s Supreme Court and Congress. These rioters were fueled by unfounded claims of election fraud spread by Bolsonaro, who has yet to concede that he lost the election. Bolsonaro, who is currently taking the stand in his trial, continues to deny involvement in a coup attempt. But prosecutors allege that he met with army officials to discuss the logistics of a forceful takeover of the government. Other members of Bolsonaro’s inner circle have been arrested for plotting to assassinate Lula. 

But Brazilians aren’t taking Trump’s interference in the trial lying down. This week, thousands of people rallied in the streets of Sao Paulo ...

According to an investigation published last week by Haaretz, the Israeli Prime Minister pushed the IDF to raise the threat level on his life in an attempt to prevent his corruption trial from moving forward. According to the investigation, Netanyahu pressured the Chief of Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, to sign off on restrictions on Netanyahu’s movement that would have prevented him from taking the stand. 

Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 for allegedly trading $260,000 worth of luxury gifts, including cigars, champagne and jewelry, from billionaires in exchange for political favors. He also is accused of granting political favors to two media outlets in exchange for favorable coverage of his administration. In the most serious case, prosecutors claim he offered more than $200 million in incentives to a telecommunications company in exchange for positive news stories on a news site it owns. But ever since the indictment, Netanyahu and his allies have characterized it as a witch hunt. 

Trump seems to agree. Last week, he posted on Truth social that the case was an “unheard of… horror show,” and threatened to withdraw U.S. military aid to Israel unless the trial was cancelled. The courts recently

Thirteen states, all led by GOP governors, have opted out of a federal program to give states money to feed low-income students during the time they cannot get meals at school. The SUN Bucks program launched in 2024 and gives families $120 to spend on groceries each summer, when school isn’t in session. Nearly a fifth of households with children are food insecure, and programs like SUN Bucks can be a lifeline for children who rely on free or reduced lunches in schools. 

Alas, in states like Tennessee, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Last year, the state received $70 million from SUN Bucks. But Governor Bill Lee rejected the federal program for 2025 over the fact that Tennessee would have to pay $6 million in administrative costs, and instead proposed a $3 million program that would feed 4 percent as many children as the federal funds. Other politicians have broader objections. Idaho Republican state senator Brian Lenney, one of the legislators who  successfully prevented their state’s entry into the program, has argued giving kids food “kills self-reliance and turns families into beggars.” Sounds like a nice guy. 

This story was adapted from the Current Affairs News ...