Scott Dance

Federal officials said they would withhold some money unless states pursue paper ballot systems, verify citizenship and conduct costly audits.

Gregg Phillips was in charge of the emergency response agency’s largest division and had come under scrutiny for a series of bizarre claims.

Cameron Hamilton, who briefly led the agency on an acting basis last year but was fired for contradicting the president, also said he would get money out to states faster.

A prolonged drought means the nation’s largest reservoirs are dwindling, and litigation over access to water could lay ahead.

A decade-old treatment plant in San Diego County, Calif., could leave more water in the Colorado River for states facing severe shortages.

In the Desert and Mountain West, towns like Kearny, Ariz., are already warning residents they could soon run out of water, but rationing so far has been patchy.

President Trump chose Cameron Hamilton to direct federal disaster response. As acting head of FEMA last year, he had opposed abolishing the agency and was ousted.

A White House task force also called for speeding up aid, but some of its ideas would require action by Congress to become reality.

After deep cuts last year, the agency is hiring hundreds. But fears linger that it isn’t equipped for imminent tornado and hurricane threats.

During President Trump’s second term, the disaster declarations that unlock money are taking longer than in the past. Blue states wait the longest and they hear ‘no’ more often.

The agency said staff members who had been let go or placed on administrative leave were now needed to prepare for hurricanes and the World Cup.

Though river monitoring shows bacteria levels have declined, scientists and environmentalists said a full recovery isn’t yet assured.

In separate lawsuits, environmental regulators said D.C. Water failed to prevent and contain a massive spill of raw sewage upstream of Washington.

San Diego County is shopping a surplus of desalinated seawater to Western states that are facing increasingly urgent drought and short supplies.