DC dispatch on FEMA, ICE, and more

Greetings,

This has been a whirlwind week in Washington, listening to a range of speakers give their perspectives on the pulse of the nation right now.

As a fellow of the National Press Foundation's Federal Action, Local Impact program, I was one of 30 other local journalists who spent the week listening to leaders and experts across a range of fields, who distilled for us what has changed in the last nine + months to so many branches of our federal government.

In the aggregate, what I heard is that this administration's drastic cuts to federal funding across most programs, its mass firings or lay offs of federal employees, and its use of the military/national guard to police cities, means that our government no longer functions how it once did, partly because precedents have been set, opening the door to still more changes, even if the effects will take a while, possibly years, to be clearly understood.

There is one anecdote I heard that stands out in my mind, especially where Kentucky is concerned. Tom Fahey, the former union leader for NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration), shared that billions worth of tax-payer funded satellite and weather prediction technology is now being put up for sale to the highest bidder, unless Congress takes action to stop this executive office move. Fahey shared how he found this troubling.

In response to this, the former deputy administrator for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), Erik Hooks, agreed with Fahey in saying that it could very well mean that severe weather prediction will not be prioritized as before, as standards will no longer be managed from within. No one knows, however, what to actually expect.

Speaking of FEMA, any current claims are only being processed at at 7% completion rate, according to Hooks, not because FEMA isn't working on them, but because this administration has demanded all claims once processed be reviewed by only a handful of people.

We also heard from two recently fired immigration court judges who shared chilling stories of ICE showing up in the courts, uninvited, to carry off immigrants after their hearings. There was no proof, they said, that any of these people are being sent to detention centers. One panelist from the immigration department said they are just "disappeared".

I asked one of the judges, Anam Rahman Petit, if all the ICE officers were masked. She said yes. I then asked whether and how they are identified to ensure court safety, and she said that is a big concern, because the officers do not remove their masks ever. Which is to say, these masked men carrying off human beings to no one knows where, might just be random strange people who just want to get their rocks off playing tough guy. The judge averred.

As much as I enjoyed hearing new intel, and as much as I was energized to level up my reporting for The Edge's readers, I was also frustrated a few times by the speakers. I think they are all in shell shock, because whenever I asked them about what's next, what are the things we might need to do to adapt, such as think about what we can do more locally to ensure the wellbeing of our neighbors, they didn't have much to offer.

But they all did concur that there is no going back to what was. We do not live under the same government we once did, as the supports for much of our federal armature have been kicked down.

Are Americans beginning to notice this? And if so, do they care? For many, at least according to some polling data we were presented with, inflation as a concern for Americans is flanked by their equal concern over human rights abuses by this administration.

One last note--I will publish coverage of this week's City Council meeting before the week's end. I did watch the stream. I have attended every single other meeting but one, which I also still covered by stream. I regret the delay and appreciate your patience.

Regards,

Whitney