Some of these denials came after his own government agencies determined that those states did indeed meet the thresholds for government aid. "He also denied a request by New York after administration officials verified that it had met federal standards for approval, according to state officials. Since the administration of George W. Bush, Politico explained, presidents had "approved all 69 state requests for snow assistance that met FEMA." "The revelations also offer a fuller picture of Trump’s tenure over the most partisan distribution of FEMA aid since the agency was created in 1979. In response to questions about these denials, a FEMA spokesperson attacked the notion that federal aid should be dispersed for "regular operations like snow removal."