\u201cThese disasters caused real damage to homes, infrastructure, and local economies, and Coloradans should not be left to shoulder these costs alone,\u201d Polis said.
While FEMA assesses damage and uses a specific formula to analyze the possible impact on states and local jurisdictions, disaster declarations are ultimately at the president\u2019s discretion.
In December, when Trump first rejected Colorado, Polis accused the president of playing \u201cpolitical games\u201d with the disaster declarations.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson denied the decisions were political. The administration responds to each request with \u201cgreat care and consideration\u201d to make sure federal revenue is used appropriately and efficiently to supplement, but not substitute, states' obligation to respond to disasters, Jackson told The Associated Press in a statement Tuesday.
\u201cPresident Trump provides a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any administration has before him," Jackson said.
Other Democrat-led states have complained about being denied disaster declarations despite proving need.
Nearly 84% of disaster requests from states that voted for Trump have been approved in his second term, while about 42% of requests from states that voted for 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris were approved, according to an analysis of public FEMA data by Andrew Rumbach, senior fellow at the nonpartisan think tank Urban Institute.
Rumbach was uncertain whether politics clearly came into play with the decisions. There have been about 60 requests from states, a small sample size, he said, and it was possible that states made insufficient cases that they needed the help.
\u201cThese are definitely questions worth asking, but I haven\u2019t reached a conclusion that there\u2019s clear political bias going on here,\u201d Rumbach said. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s really important that FEMA and DHS be as transparent as possible about how they\u2019re making these decisions.\u201d
Rejections have prompted criticisms from Democratic governors like Wes Moore of Maryland and JB Pritzker of Illinois, who called Trump\u2019s February rejection of the state\u2019s appeal for help recovering from August 2025 floods \u201ca politically motivated decision that punishes thousands of Illinois families in a critical moment of need.\u201d
Meanwhile, Colorado\u2019s attorney general, Phil Weiser, has been pushing back against other recent federal decisions against Colorado, including dissolving a climate research lab, threatening to cut transportation money, withholding funds for needy families and relocating the U.S. Space Command to Alabama.
Some U.S. communities have also experienced unprecedented long waits for answers on their disaster requests during Trump\u2019s second term, which critics say delays their response and puts particular pressure on rural towns and counties with smaller budgets.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin last week vowed to clear out some of the backlog of requests in the run-up to Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1. Trump approved major disaster declaration requests for at least seven states last week after being briefed by Mullin.
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