Asked shortly after the disaster whether he still intended to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, President Trump said it wasn’t the right time to talk about it.

In the deadliest natural disaster since the Trump administration's layoffs and buyouts at federal forecasting offices, Texas officials are praising the president and deflecting questions about the possible effect of the cuts.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday drew a hard line against quickly blaming the government in the midst of a tragedy – in this case, the deadly floods in Texas.