Trump authorizes DC emergency declaration over Potomac sewage disaster

President Donald Trump on Saturday approved a disaster declaration for Washington, D.C., following the Potomac River sewage disaster.

The declaration will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to respond and provide aid after a sewer pipe collapsed in January and spilled millions of gallons of raw waste into the water surrounding the nation’s capital.

“The President’s action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency to the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, protect property, public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a disaster,” FEMA said in a statement.

FEMA assistance will cover the nation’s capital and areas of Maryland and Virginia where the District of Columbia has responsibilities, the agency said.

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Pumps and pipes divert raw sewage into the C&O Canal February 16, 2026 in Cabin John, Maryland. A sewer line interceptor collapsed on January 19, releasing hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A sewer line interceptor ruptured on January 19, releasing more than 240 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency Wednesday over the Potomac sewage spill and requested federal help with the cleanup.

Trump directed his anger at Democrats Maryland Governor Wes Moore and other local leaders in Virginia and Washington DC addressed the issue, saying alleged incompetence led to the disaster.

Moore and his office, however, pushed back against Trump’s claims, saying the federal government was monitoring the sewer service.

President Donald Trump attends a ceremony in Florida to dedicate the renaming of a 4-mile stretch of Southern Boulevard in Palm Beach County to “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard” on January 16, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

“This is a pipeline located in Washington, D.C., on federal land,” Moore told Fox News Digital this week. “Maryland had nothing to do with it. In fact, the only thing Maryland did was when we saw a neighbor who was in need. That’s why I ordered the people, our people, to go support them, and that’s what we did last month.”

Sewage clings to shipwrecks on the Potomac River near Glen Echo, Maryland. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump slams Maryland governor, launches federal effort to protect Potomac after historic sewage spill

“We basically did the federal government’s job, because it’s the federal government’s job to be able to protect the Potomac interconnection, because it’s federal land,” Moore said, adding, “For the president to now come and attack me on this, I think it’s…absurd.”

Millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River after the underground pipeline collapsed on January 19. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The sewer lines are managed by DC Water, an independent utility based in District of Columbia, which has made emergency repairs, but says it will take four to six weeks to fully repair what is called a broken interceptor.

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This is developing news; check back for updates.

Edward Lawrence of Fox Business and Emma Colton and Paul Steinhauser of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.