This evening, the White House Press Office issued a statement regarding an Emergency Declaration in the District of Columbia, below are the details from the White House website.
It is unclear at the moment the emergency being referenced. The Monday evening release comes shortly after the resignation of Chad Wolf, acting press secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and just days after the Capitol riots, and during a surge in COVID-19 cases. We have reached out to the FEMA Press Office but were not able to reach anyone for comment. This is an ongoing story.
Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that an emergency exists in the District of Columbia and ordered Federal assistance to supplement the District’s response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the 59th Presidential Inauguration from January 11 to January 24, 2021.
The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 100 percent Federal funding.
Pete Gaynor, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Thomas J. Fargione as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.