As we enter hurricane season, Trump’s cuts to FEMA and the National Weather Service have left communities to fend for themselves before, during, and after disasters.
Why a growing share of Americans are finding it difficult to navigate the labor market.
DHS’ refusal to abide by the rule of law is a threat to our entire democracy.
Trump’s cuts to FEMA and the National Weather Service are leaving communities high and dry
Last week, the Trump administration announced that it will start a roughly 15-month “descoping” process of the Ocean Observatories Initiative. Scientists warn that this rollback will degrade global weather predictions and El Niño forecasting, dissolving an early warning system that protects billions of dollars in coastal infrastructure from unpredictable hurricanes and severe storms. This is just the most recent example of the administration cutting funding and removing essential infrastructure from America’s early warning climate systems.
Federal agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Weather Service play an essential role in climate disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. However, the Trump administration has been systematically dismantling these agencies—slashing the jobs, budgets, infrastructure, and programs that give communities a fighting chance. Weakening our defenses and leaving holes in this safety net forces families and communities to fend for themselves during the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
Learn how cuts to our first, second, and third lines of defense put Americans at greater risk during an extreme weather disaster.
More Americans are struggling to navigate the labor market
Photo: Getty Images
Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Situation report for May 2026, showing that 172,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy while the unemployment rate stayed the same at 4.3 percent. However, underlying data trends point to a labor market that a growing share of Americans are finding difficult to navigate.
New analysis by the Center for American Progress shows that labor underutilization is above pre-pandemic trends. More Americans are working part-time jobs when they desire full-time hours, have stopped actively looking for work, or have become too discouraged to search at all; and those who are searching for work are experiencing longer spells of unemployment. At the same time, inflation-adjusted wages have fallen over the past year, meaning that even workers with steady employment are losing ground amid rising prices from Trump’s war in Iran and tariff policies.
Markwayne Mullin’s answer about following court orders should alarm every American
In an op-ed for MS NOW, Tom Jawetz writes about how Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's recent testimony before Congress is a reminder that the department is not exempt from the rule of law. His answers were particularly alarming given that they come during the same week congressional Republicans funneled $70 billion to President Trump’s lawless, unaccountable Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agencies, which Mullin oversees. Tom writes:
“When Markwayne Mullin appeared before Congress Tuesday for the first time as homeland security secretary, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., asked a question Mullin should have had no trouble answering: Will the Department of Homeland Security follow federal court orders?
“Mullin couldn’t give Murphy a straight answer (nor could he provide one to similar questions from Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., on Wednesday). The secretary repeatedly evaded questions, refused to commit to complying with the law and suggested DHS would abide by some court orders and ignore others supposedly based on ‘political opinion, not just the rule of law.’
“But that’s not how the rule of law works. This principle — that the government is constrained by legal rules promulgated publicly and enforced consistently — is foundational to American democracy. It is a key reason we have a government ‘of laws, and not of men,’ as John Adams wrote 250 years ago.”
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