Nearly all of Washington's congressional delegation put politics aside this weekend and signed one letter.
A Letter Signed by Nine House Members and Both Senators The letter, dated Monday, was signed by Murray, Cantwell, and Representatives Michael Baumgartner, Adam Smith, Marilyn Strickland, Dan Newhouse, Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Emily Randall, Kim Schrier, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
Ferguson has generally avoided confrontational rhetoric toward the administration throughout the response, choosing instead to publicly credit early federal engagement, a posture that reads as a deliberate attempt to keep the request moving rather than turn it into a fight.
31, 2020: "People in my district need support, and I implore you to move forward in providing it to those who have been impacted by devastating wildfires." The public assistance declaration did not come until the incoming Biden administration signed it in February 2021, nearly five months after the fire.
For now, the immediate need is visible at the Spokane Convention Center, the only Red Cross shelter still operating after a planned second site at Spokane Falls Community College lost power and had to be scrapped.
Nine of Washington's ten House members and both senators are urging Trump to approve an emergency wildfire declaration, with the memory of a five-month delay for Malden hanging over the request.