The Boston Globe - 11.09.2019

A12 The Nation The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

By Kate Harrison Belz
and Andrew Freedman
WASHINGTON POST
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The
acting administrator of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospher-
ic Administration, Neil Jacobs,
defended his agency at a major
weather industry conference on
Tuesday morning in an emo-
tional speech as controversy
swirls over how agency officials
responded to President Trump’s
inaccurate claim on Sept. 1 that
Alabama ‘‘would most likely be
hit [much] harder than antici-
pated’’ by Hurricane Dorian.
Jacobs stood by the agency’s
unusual, unsigned statement
released Friday, which backed
Trump’s false claim about Ala-
bama and praised the National
Weather Service’s Birmingham
division for speaking ‘‘in abso-
lute terms.’’
‘‘The purpose of the NOAA
statement was to clarify the
technical aspects of the poten-
tial impacts of Dorian,’’ Jacobs
said. ‘‘What it did not say, how-
ever, is that we understand and
fully support the good intent of
the Birmingham weather office,
which was to calm fears and
support public safety.’’
Regarding effects from Hur-
ricane Dorian, Jacobs said, ‘‘At
one point, Alabama was in the
mix, as was the rest of the
Southeast.’’
Trump has maintained that
he was correct in saying Ala-
bama was at direct risk of sig-
nificant impacts from Dorian,
despite the lack of evidence to
support his claim. At the time
of his first tweet mentioning Al-
abama, the NWS’s forecast
guidance showed about 5 per-
cent risk of tropical-storm-force

winds for a small portion of Al-

abama, which was not in the

storm forecast track or ‘‘cone of

uncertainty’’ from the National

Hurricane Center, which

showed Hurricane Dorian skirt-

ing the East Coast far away

from Alabama.

The NWS’s Birmingham of-

fice quickly set the record

straight, saying Alabama

‘‘would NOT see any impacts’’

from the storm. NWS director

Louis Uccellini said Monday

that the Birmingham office was

responding to an influx of calls

from concerned residents that

began after Trump sent the

tweet, but that the Alabama

forecasters only learned that

Trump’s tweet was what insti-

gated the calls after they sent

their tweet.

‘‘There is no pressure to

change the way you communi-

cate forecast risk into the fu-

ture,’’ Jacobs said. ‘The weather

service team has my full sup-

port and the support of the de-

partment.’’

Hinting that NOAA was not

involved in briefing Trump on

the potential path of Hurricane

Dorian, which may have led to

the president perceiving a far

greater threat to Alabama than

there actually was, Jacobs said:

‘‘What did I learn over the last

week? From now on, the Na-

tional Weather Service should

be at the table with emergency

managers and FEMA at all

briefings. We need somebody

there who understands how to

interpret [the forecast].”

By Andrew Taylor

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Senate

Democrats are moving on two

fronts to block President Trump

from using special emergency

powers to transfer money from

military base construction proj-

ects like new schools to pay for

new fences along the US-Mexi-

co border.

First, Democratic leader

Chuck Schumer of New York

said Tuesday that he will force a

vote to reject the plan, saying

the vote would give lawmakers

a chance to block Trump ‘‘from

stealing military funding from

their states to foot the bill for an

expensive and ineffective wall

he promised Mexico would pay

for.’’

A similar measure passed

this spring with 12 Senate Re-

publican votes but was vetoed

by Trump. The rules allow

Schumer to retry every few

months and don’t allow Repub-

licans to block the vote.

Perhaps more ominously for

Trump is a potential vote on

Thursday in the powerful Ap-

propriations panel, where sev-

eral members agree with Dem-

ocrats that Trump is overstep-

ping by reordering spending

decisions by Congress to fund

wall projects that have other-

wise been rejected.

A top Appropriations Demo-

crat, Senator Dick Durbin of Il-

linois, said he will move to

amend a $694 billion Pentagon

funding bill to block Trump

from diverting money intended

for military projects to the wall.

The Pentagon last week

identified $3.6 billion worth of

military construction projects

it’s willing to kill to build 175

miles of border wall. The proj-

ects included a $63 million

middle school in GOP majority

leader Mitch McConnell’s state

of Kentucky though most of

them are located outside the

continental United States.

‘‘The cancellation of these

projects is based on a national

emergency declared by the

president that was rejected on

its face by both houses of Con-

gress on bipartisan votes,’’

Durbin said. ‘‘Congress cannot

and should not be silent when

the power of the purse is under-

mined in this way. Why are we

here?’’

Durbin would prevail in the

vote if panel Republicans like

Roy Blunt of Missouri and Su-

san Collins of Maine vote like

they did in March — a develop-

ment that would embarrass top

Republicans like McConnell

and Appropriations Committee

chairman Richard Shelby.

McConnell said Durbin’s

move, along with an abortion-

related vote promised by Sena-

tor Patty Murray, a Washington

Democrat, on a separate health

spending bill, amount to ‘‘poi-

son pills’’ that violate the recent

budget pact.

In remarks caught on a live

microphone after a panel vote

on the whopping defense mea-

sure Durbin implored Shelby to

work with him to stop Trump’s

border wall maneuvering. Shel-

by was clearly sympathetic.

‘‘I’m going to do everything I

can,’’ Shelby said. ‘‘Listen, I’m

going to talk to McConnell, and

you talk to Schumer and let’s

see if we can get together.’’

A Shelby spokeswoman said

the Alabama Republican was

talking more generally about

moving the appropriations pro-

cess — which would fill in the

details of this summer’s biparti-

san spending and debt deal —

forward.

Schumer’s move in the full

Senate to force a repeat vote

could put some Republicans in

a difficult spot. For instance,

endangered Republicans Cory

Gardner of Colorado and Mar-

tha McSally of Arizona support-

ed Trump in the earlier vote in

March but stand to each lose

funding for a home state proj-

ect.

By Toluse Olorunnipa

and Scott Clement

WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — President

Trump is ending a tumultuous

summer with his approval rat-

ing slipping back from a July

high as Americans express

widespread concern about the

trade war with China and a ma-

jority of voters now expect a re-

cession within the next year, ac-

cording to a new Washington

Post-ABC News poll.

The survey highlights how

one of Trump’s central argu-

ments for reelection — the

strong US economy — is begin-

ning to show signs of potential

turmoil as voters express fears

that the trade dispute with Chi-

na will end up raising the price

of goods for US consumers.

The poll also shows a schism

between Americans’ continued

positive ratings of the economy

and fears of a downturn, with

far more saying Trump’s poli-

cies have increased chances of a

recession than decreased it.

Trump’s approval rating

among voting-age Americans

stands at 38 percent, down

from 44 percent in June but

similar to 39 percent in April,

with 56 percent now saying

they disapprove of his perfor-

mance in office. Among regis-

tered voters, 40 percent say

they approve of Trump, while

55 percent disapprove.

The Post-ABC poll finds

Trump’s economic approval rat-

ing has also declined from 51

percent in early July to 46 per-

cent in the new survey, with 47

percent disapproving. His rela-

tively positive standing on the

economy continues to buoy his

reputation amid public criti-

cism on other issues.

In the July survey, the econo-

my was the sole issue where

Trump received positive num-

bers, with more than half of all

Americans disapproving of his

handling of immigration,

health care, gun violence, cli-

mate change, and other issues.

Trump’s handling of trade

negotiations with China is a

particularly weak spot, with 35

percent in the new poll approv-

ing of him on this issue and 56

percent disapproving.

While 56 percent rate the

economy as ‘‘excellent’’ or

‘‘good,’’ that figure is down from

65 percent in November. A sep-

arate question finds 6 in 10 say

a recession is ‘‘very likely’’ or

‘‘somewhat likely’’ in the next

year. That fear compares with

69 percent who said a recession

was likely in fall 2007, shortly

before the recession began.

Poll: Trump slides, as 6 in 10 expect a recession

NOAA head

defends

agency —

and Trump

Alabama scandal

divides officials

Democrats aim to block border wall move

JAY REEVES/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Neil Jacobs, the acting

administrator of NOAA,

spoke at a meteorological

convention Tuesday. HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/FILE 2019

The military identified $3.6 billion worth of construction

projects it’s willing to kill to build a portion of the wall.