1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Welcome to the Jenga presidency. A tower of illusion just waiting for the one thing to be removed that will cause the whole structure to collapse. The Texas flood may be a sad example. Project 2025 called for breaking up and downsizing NOAA, claiming its six main offices—including the National Weather Service—“form a colossal operation that has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity,” i.e. the fossil fuel industry. Several NWS offices across the country are so understaffed they can no longer operate around the clock, and many are no longer able to launch the weather balloons that provide critical data. The Trump administration's 2026 budget calls for eliminating “all of NOAA’s weather and climate research labs along with institutes jointly run with universities around the country.” The NYT noted that the OBBBA bill passed by Republicans last week and signed into law on Friday boosts fossil fuels and destroys government efforts to address climate change, even as scientists warn of the acute dangers we face from extreme heat, wildfires, storms, and floods like Texas just had. The WaPo noted that the administration has slashed grants for studying climate change and has limited or even ended access to information about climate science, taking down websites and burying reports. When a reporter asked Trump, “Are you investigating whether some of the cuts to the federal government left key vacancies at the national weather service or the emergency coordination?” he responded: “They didn’t. I’ll tell you, if you look at that water situation that all is and that was really the Biden setup. That was not our setup. But I wouldn't blame Biden for it either. I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe and it’s just so horrible to watch.” It is more than time to tie every Republican incumbent on the ballot in 2026 to actions by the Trump administration. They should be held responsible for every hospital closed in their states, every family thrown off of Medicaid or SNAP, every person priced out of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, every scientific researcher or green energy worker thrown out of work, and every family who cannot afford to heat their home or keep their electricity on that result from passage of the OBBBA. They are responsible for the worst excesses of ICE, which has been given tens of billions to terrorize immigrants. And now is even more empowered to snatch anyone, anytime, anywhere and do with them whatever the administration commands. They are responsible for a government that is deserting its citizens, making us less healthy, less safe, less financially secure, and demonstrably less free. They = you.