Trump responds to Ingraham: We're trying to shrink government

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the understaffing of the executive branch under his
administration has been a conscious choice as part of a larger effort to shrink government, pushing
back against conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, who told Fox News that the federal
government is short on manpower.

In an interview Tuesday morning on “Fox & Friends,” Ingraham noted that Federal Emergency
Management Agency Administrator Brock Long, who is overseeing the federal response to the storm
damage and flooding in Texas from Hurricane Harvey, has been in his position only since June. The
storm, recovery from which Long said will take years, along with a full plate of other domestic and
international issues to deal with, are proof that the Trump administration needs to be fully staffed,
Ingraham said.

“We can all look at these horrific pictures, and we can conclude that a federal government does
need staff. We see it acutely in need of staff in a situation like this,” Ingraham said. “This isn't the
only crisis we're facing. This is massive, humanitarian. We're also facing a huge crisis with North
Korea. We're facing a crisis of confidence across the country where people wonder even with
President Trump in, he said he was going to drain the swamp, can we have a government that works
for the people and not just have a people enslaved to the government.”

Trump, known to be a regular “Fox & Friends” viewer, responded to Ingraham on Twitter, writing
that “we are not looking to fill all of those positions. Don't need many of them — reduce size of
governmenUnder Trump’s administration, the hiring rate for jobs requiring Senate confirmation has
lagged relative to that of his predecessors. Of 591 key positions that require Senate confirmation,
just 117 have been filled, according to a database maintained by The Washington Post and the
Partnership for Public Service. An additional 106 are currently awaiting Senate confirmation, while
366 are currently without a nominee. Two individuals also have been named but not nominated to
fill vacancies.

Overall, there are roughly 1,200 government jobs that require Senate confirmation.

Ingraham, in her interview with Fox News, left open the possibility that Trump had left jobs vacant as
part of an effort to shrink the government, but she said the public should hear more from the White
House about that plan if that is the case.

She specifically noted, as an example, that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is without a
deputy even as he works on the renegotiation of NAFTA, a major policy goal of the president’s.
“That's a massive undertaking and, you know, they're doing it with a much smaller staff, and it's
really — it's not ideal.”

“I mean, this is a question that has to be posed to the administration. I know they have a lot on their
hands, but we have to have people in place,” Ingraham said. “If there's a plan to not staff and cause
the ultimate shrinkage of government, then let's hear about that as well.
Ex-FEMA chief 'Brownie' sees economic toll from Harvey as 'far
greater' than Katrina
Michael Brown, the former FEMA head who was in charge when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005,
told CNBC on Monday that he believes the economic impact from Hurricane Harvey will exceed that
of Katrina.

By many estimates, Katrina caused upward of $150 billion in total economic damage with about of
third of that coming from insured losses.

"We have no idea what the number is going to be [for Harvey]. But I think it's going to be much
higher than Katrina," when considering the damage from the relatively quick Tropical Storm Allison
in southeast Texas in 2001, Brown said on "Squawk Box."

Harvey, by comparison, has been lingering since it made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 storm in
Rockport, Texas, before tracking northeast and swamping the Houston area with more than 20
inches of rain.

Many major refineries in the region were closed, sending gasoline futures higher on supply concerns
and oil prices lower on worries about less crude being needed for refining.

The heavy rains from what's left of Harvey are expected to continue for several days and rivers are
not expected to crest until later this week, so the flooding could get even worse.

Brown, who was in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the Republican
presidency of George W. Bush, praised the current FEMA administrator, Brock Long, as a "great
person to have in this position" to respond to the destruction from Harvey.

"[Long] was my representative to the National Hurricane Center when I was the [FEMA] director. He
went on to be the emergency manager in Alabama," Brown said. "He's just that low-key, down-to-
earth guy that you need in these kinds of high-pressure situations."

At a Monday morning news conference, Long said more than 450,000 people were expected to seek
disaster assistance due to Harvey-related flooding. Long was confirmed as President Donald Trump's
choice to lead FEMA in June.

Meanwhile, Harvey, the fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in 13 years, was being blamed for five
deaths. Thousands of high-water rescues were conducted.

Brown told CNBC on Monday that he understands the political perils of instituting mandatory
evacuations before storms like Harvey hit, but said Houston officials should have strongly
encouraged residents in the path of the storm to leave the area.

In 2005, President Bush, while touring Katrina destruction, infamously praised Brown. "Brownie,
you're doing a heck of a job," Bush said at the time. Brown quit his post shortly after that over what
was viewed as a mishandling of the federal response to Katrina.
Man shot dead, another critically wounded within half-hour span in
separate Bronx shootings
Two Bronx shootings within a half-hour span left one man dead and a second critically hurt Tuesday
night, cops said.

A 32-year-old man was shot in the head at 8:37 p.m. after a fight at the corner of E. Gun Hill Road
and DeKalb Ave. in Norwood, police said. Two gunmen took off toward E. Gun Hill Road, and the
victim was taken to Montefiore Medical Center, where he was in critical condition, cops said.

Police found a 24-year-old man with a gunshot wound in his chest in McKinley Houses on E. 161st St.
in Morrisania at 9:04 p.m. He was taken to Lincoln Medical Center, where he died.