Government

"One Year After Helene: People who lost their homes turned to FEMA for aid. Some are still slogging through red tape. Wealthier Getting More: We found that in some North Carolina counties, homeowners with the highest incomes received two to three times as much FEMA housing assistance as lower-income ones."

"Slogging through a thick slop of mud and rock, Brian Hill passed the roof that Hurricane Helene’s floodwaters had just ripped off someone’s barn and dumped into his yard. Then he peered into the unrecognizable chaos inside what had been his family’s dream home.

"Federal workers across the government are bracing for possible cuts after the White House instructed agencies Wednesday night to consider widespread layoffs in the event of a shutdown." "The White House has directed federal agencies to consider handing out pink slips if the government shuts down."

"Our first FOIA lawsuit seeks the calendar entries of top DOGE operatives and other political appointees."

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting administrator, David Richardson, is often inaccessible, several current and former officials say, raising concerns within the agency."

"The world is producing too much coal, oil and natural gas to meet the targets set 10 years ago under the Paris Agreement, in which countries agreed to limit climate pollution and avoid the worst effects of global warming."

"The Senate rejected two funding stopgaps, and the House will not return before the deadline."

"When a disaster strikes, be it a hurricane, flood, wildfire, or other type of extreme weather, an army of workers assemble. They arrive in waves to ravaged areas ready to respond." "From cleanup crews to powerline techs, these are the workers called in after catastrophe."

"A UN treaty to protect marine diversity in the high seas was struck Friday after Morocco and Sierra Leone ratified the agreement, clinching the threshold of at least 60 ratifications needed to enact it as international law."