Free Republic

The federal government program designed to help cover funeral costs for people who have died of COVID-19 was inundated with more than 1 million calls on its launch day. The Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) rolled out its hotline Monday, inviting Americans to apply for up to $9,000 per funeral and up to $35,500 per applicant to help with expenses related to coronavirus deaths occurring after January 20, 2020.... ..."This is going to be a nightmare on fraud," Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told CBS News. "FEMA didn't willingly undertake this. Congress directed it."

FEMA said the COVID-19 funeral assistance program will be implemented starting in April and applications will be accepted at that time. They are currently working to establish a phone number where applications can be filed. To qualify, applicants must meet certain conditions.The death must have occurred in the United States, including the U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, and the death certificate must indicate that the death was attributed to COVID-19, FEMA said.The applicant must be a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national, or a qualified alien who incurred funeral expenses after January 20, 2020.According to FEMA, the individual who died...

The destruction in Alabama is mind numbing. Did biden do anything about to help recover from the Texas freeze either, and change electric power policy to avoid a repeat? Where is this imaginary president? Call a "lid"?? Happy Palm Sunday by the way...and I apologize for my anger.

Dutch police used dogs, horses and water cannon to attack two thousand anti-coronavirus lockdown protesters in The Hague today... The Netherlands the latest nation to suspend use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine... Earlier Ireland suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot concerns... Dr. Anthony Fauci says he's disturbed by polling data showing large numbers of Republicans will not get vaccinated. Fauci urging President Trump to promote vaccination... The vaccination stats for the US expressed in percentages... Saturday evening in London British police grabbed women and led them away in handcuffs for violating coronavirus restrictions...Now there's outrage being expressed...

The Biden Administration has directed FEMA to help shelter and transfer migrant children who are crossing unaccompanied into the United States at the border with Mexico. FEMA is the Federal EMERGENCY Management Agency. They provide governmental assistance in times of EMERGENCIES — at times when the normal assistance available for various government agencies is insufficient to deal with the EMERGENCY.Usually, that is a situation caused by an act of “Mother Nature.” But in the case of the Biden Administration, the EMERGENCY is caused entirely by the government — and it was entirely predictable.Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said FEMA...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Saturday ordered an emergency agency that usually responds to floods, storms and other major disasters to help care for a growing number of migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in news release that he would deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “to help receive, shelter and transport the children" over the next 90 days. The move signals the scope of a growing humanitarian and political crisis for the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat who took office on Jan. 20. The increased...

resident Joe Biden on Saturday declared a major disaster in Texas as winter storms continue to wreak havoc on the state. Millions of Texas are without power and water due to freezing temperatures, which have resulted in frozen pipes and downed electrical grids. A majority of the state – 189 counties of the 254 that make up the state – are also under boil water notices. The major disaster declaration allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide assistance to families and businesses in the 77 counties with the most damage. Federal assistance will come in the form of...

San Francisco District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen was elated when Joe Biden signed an executive order last week that opens the door taxpayers to foot the bill for the cities homeless problems. Biden signed an executive order that was designed to increase reimbursements and other assistance to states to help cover costs related to the pandemic. The order states, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shall “make available under Category B of the Public Assistance program such assistance as may be required by States (including territories and the District of Columbia), local governments, and Tribal governments to provide for the...

Deanne Criswell, Joe Biden’s pick to run FEMA, had a years-long extramarital affair that was financed by taxpayer dollars through the Office of Emergency Management of Aurora, Colorado, the Transportation Security Administration, and FEMA, according to the former husband and wife who were victim to Criswell’s extramarital engagement. National File spoke extensively to Lisa Borbe, a United States Marine veteran who also worked for the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA, and recently retired after spending 31 years of serving her country. Borbe is the ex-wife of Mark Haught. Haught says Borbe’s characterization of his participation in the affair...

The President-elect said his team plans to "manage the hell out of this operation," to hit the ground running on vaccinating Americans.

SAN JUAN — Three years after Hurricane María, the government of Puerto Rico and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) agreed to allocate $13 billion to rebuild the electricity grid and repair educational structures destroyed by the historic storm. At a press conference in FEMA headquarters, Gov. Wanda Vázquez took the opportunity to thank the FEMA leadership in Puerto Rico and President Donald Trump for the funding obligation. Earlier, Vázquez tweeted that FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor called her to give her the news that they had approved the multimillion-dollar allocation. “I just spoke with @FEMA_Pete notified me that we achieved...

On the fifth anniversary of the notorious spill of 3 million gallons of heavily contaminated acid mine water from the Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Utah announced an agreement that ends the state’s lawsuit. Neither the EPA nor the contractors involved at the Gold King spill site are entirely off the hook for their alleged missteps that resulted in downstream damages. Lawsuits filed by the Navajo Nation, the State of New Mexico, and a group of Navajo farmers and ranchers have been consolidated, and discovery is proceeding, with a projected...

As we reported earlier in the week, FEMA has begun to approve states for the enhanced federal unemployment insurance benefit authorized by President Trump on August 8th. While some states have been approved, some are still in the process while others have turned down the assistance. And at least one state has already started sending out $300 weekly benefits to its citizens. To stay up to date on this developing story, we’ve gathered information here on a state-by-state basis. It includes whether the state had or will seek FEMA approval for the $300 benefit, the status of the application, whether...

Last weekend, President Trump did something unusual. He issued a memorandum authorizing states to tap the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) $70 billion Disaster Relief Fund to pay for enhanced unemployment benefits. The new benefits are intended to replace the $600-per-week pandemic relief benefit, paid out on top of regular state unemployment, that Congress passed in March and that expired at the end of July. The move came after talks between the White House and Congress to renew the federal unemployment benefit stalled out, and at a moment when the official unemployment rate in the U.S. is hovering around 10...

Gov. Tim Walz on Friday announced he is appealing the federal government's decision to deny a major disaster declaration to help Minnesota rebuild from the rioting that broke out after George Floyd's death in police custody. The Governor requested funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on July 2. That request was denied on July 10. Walz requested funding specifically to help rebuild public infrastructure that had been damaged in the civil unrest starting on May 27. In a news release, Walz cited the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, which states that fires to public infrastructures regardless of...

Today, First Lady Melania Trump joined a conference call with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Youth Preparedness Council (YPC) during their annual summit. The Council was formed in 2012 to bring together youth leaders interested in supporting disaster preparedness. Through national and local projects, they strive to engage children and provide the tools and resources needed to educate them on disaster preparedness.Administer Gaynor provided welcome remarks and discussed the importance of YPC and the many achievements of its members. The Administrator then introduced the First Lady, who thanked the YPC members for allowing her to join the Summit...

It would take volumes to recite how the city government in Minneapolis and the state government in Minnesota made it possible for rioters to inflict hundreds of millions of dollars of damage on Minneapolis and its twin city, St. Paul. After standing aside while Black Lives Matters protesters, Antifa anarchists, and garden-variety criminals trashed those cities, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz then had the chutzpah to ask for more than $500 million in aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”). On Saturday, to most people’s surprise, FEMA said “no.” Because George Floyd died during an arrest in Minneapolis, the excessively...

As Minnesota leaders pondered their next steps, it's not yet clear what other sources of funds they may tap. Denied federal aid to help rebuild burned-out, vandalized businesses in the wake of riots that followed George Floyd’s killing, Minnesota leaders pondered their next steps Saturday. But it’s not yet clear what other sources of funds they may tap. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Friday denied Gov. Tim Walz’s request for nearly $16 million in aid to help rebuild and repair structures in Minneapolis and St. Paul, many of them left in ruins by the riots and fires that...

Today, Vice President Mike Pence led a discussion with the chief executives of approximately 50 States, territories, and the city of Washington, DC, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to discuss local, State, and Federal COVID-19 response and best practices on safely reopening America’s schools. The discussion centered on addressing both the holistic health and the learning objective of our Nation’s students.Vice President Pence discussed best practices with our Nation’s governors on limiting the COVID-19 spread while keeping America open, including encouraging Americans to adhere to state and local guidelines and to wear face coverings when social distancing...

WASHINGTON – A team of government officials – led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – has created a public health strategy to combat the coronavirus and reopen parts of the country. Their strategy, obtained by The Washington Post, is part of a larger White House effort to draft a national plan to get Americans out of their homes and back to work. It gives guidance to state and local governments on how they can ease mitigation efforts, moving from drastic restrictions such as stay-at-home orders in a phased way. . .