Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaking with attendees at the Republican Jewish Coalition's 2023 Annual Leadership Summit at the Venetian Convention & Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Image: Gage Skidmore / Creative Commons)
Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is once again asking President Donald Trump for federal money to help her state recover from natural disasters — even after being turned down last month.
The Little Rock-based Arkansas Times reported Wednesday that Sanders — who was Trump's White House press secretary before her gubernatorial career – has sent another letter to Trump asking her former boss for disaster relief funding after a spate of tornadoes. This latest request comes despite the Trump administration rejecting her last disaster aid request after severe storms ravaged the Razorback State in March.
"Since 2023, Arkansas has experienced an unprecedented frequency of disasters, with four federally declared disasters and ten state-declared disasters," Sanders wrote in her May 3 letter. "These overlapping events have severely strained the capacity of state and local agencies to respond and recover effectively. Many communities have been impacted by multiple disasters, compounding recovery challenges and delaying critical infrastructure restoration."
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"The cumulative effect of repeated disasters has led to widespread disaster fatigue among residents and responders alike," she continued. "Many Arkansans are still living in temporary conditions or repairing damages from previous events, only to be displaced or impacted once again. The state and its citizens are in dire need of assistance to recover, rebuild, and mitigate further loss."
Sarah Huckabee Sanders is currently appealing the Trump administration's denial of her April aid request. In her previous letter, she wrote that her constituents have had to contend with "overwhelming amounts of debris, widespread destruction to homes and businesses, the tragic loss of three lives and injuries to many others," as well as additional "severe storms, tornadoes, and a generational flooding event" just weeks later.
The Arkansas Times observed that the Sanders' repeated requests for aid are a stark contrast to the tone she took early on in her administration when former President Joe Biden was in office. In a January 2023 tweet, she wrote: "As long as I am your governor, the meddling hand of big government creeping down from Washington DC will be stopped cold at the Mississippi River."
Even though Trump denied an aid request by Arkansas' Republican governor, he approved another aid request from Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear around the same time Sanders' first request was denied. Beshear's request for disaster relief was accepted in April for 13 counties hit by severe flooding, though the two-term Democrat said he was still seeking assistance for 20 other counties included in the initial application.
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Click here to read the Arkansas Times' full report.