The climate crisis in the United States has not only left deaths, but also massive power outages, worsening the situation for millions of people. Under the Trump administration, 27 major disaster declarations have been issued so far in 2025, but no extreme heat wave incidents are planned for that time.

Between June 20 and June 24, high temperatures exposed nearly half the country to dangerously high temperatures. On June 24, seven states even tied or broke monthly high temperature records, many of them exceeding triple digits. One of those states, Maryland, reported that 472 people needed medical attention for heat-related illnesses during that time period, there is no disaster declaration for the event on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website.

That's because extreme heat is not considered a "disaster" that is eligible for federal funding, according to the Stafford Act , which is the governing law that outlines when and how the president can declare disasters and direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance to state and local governments.

Because of that, CBS News reported, three Democratic lawmakers are trying to change that. Senators Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, along with Representative Sylvia Garcia of Texas, have proposed legislation to classify extreme heat as a disaster, which would allow federal funds to go to areas where higher temperatures cause severe physical and economic problems. Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York has joined as a co-sponsor. However, this is not the first time Rosen has proposed such legislation. He introduced a similar bill in 2024, which passed fairly quickly through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee before being blocked by a Senate Republican. Under the Stafford Act, Sixteen types of natural disasters are listed, defined as "any hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, flash flood, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, blizzard, drought, fire, or other catastrophe occurring anywhere in the United States that causes or is likely to cause substantial damage or injury to property or civilian persons." Declaring extreme heat a major disaster would allow states and local governments to apply for federal funds that could provide additional cooling centers, air conditioning to communities in need, money for water infrastructure projects, as well as a mechanism where communities can apply for money for heat adaptation projects like planting more trees. trees or build shade structures to reduce urban heat.