America’s 911 System Is Facing Its Own Emergency – Mother Jones

There is no single cause for the lapse in America’s 911 answer speeds. But a key factor, according to experts, academics and telecommunicators themselves, is chronic understaffing. Between 2019 and 2022, the average vacancy rate in US 911 centers was around 25 percent, according to a 2023 report from two industry groups. Another study, published in 2025, surveyed nearly 1,400 911 professionals and found that 74 percent of them worked in centers that were struggling to fill vacant positions. In many areas, staffing dipped to perilously low levels in the years following the pandemic and has been on an uphill climb ever since… 

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/911-emergency-dispatch-response-delay-oakland-st-louis-crisis-type/ 

 

Congress wants to get more homes built quickly. That might be harder after DOGE. - POLITICO

Some of the lawmakers who pushed for the law worry that the Department of Housing and Urban Development — which has shed more than 30 percent of its core policy workforce in just three years following budget cuts — is too understaffed to quickly issue new rules and implement its provisions, aimed at making building and buying homes cheaper and easier...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/23/bipartisan-housing-bill-implementation-01008945

 

FEMA moved quickly to help Texas. These states are still waiting. - The Washington Post

Oregon, Maryland, Kansas, Missouri, West Virginia, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, New Mexico, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California were without critical services such as temporary housing, unemployment assistance, search-and-rescue crews and debris removal because of bureaucratic obstacles at the Department of Homeland Security, according to FEMA staffers, state disaster declaration requests and internal agency data obtained by The Washington Post. 

Then, in a flurry of Truth Social posts Tuesday evening, Trump announced he had signed disaster declarations for Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia, which had all been waiting for answers since the spring, freeing up millions of dollars in federal aid...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/07/22/fema-disaster-assistance-delays/

‘It’s a death sentence’: US health insurance system is failing, say doctors

"The surgeon was very honest that he only wanted to operate if the tumor was localized, and without the PET scan, he really would not be able to make that decision," said Kunis. "The surgeon and his office, as well as my office, spent hours on the phone. We were speaking to somebody who was sitting at UnitedHealthcare in front of a computer screen who was really not knowledgeable on the underlying medical problem or the test that we are asking for the patient to have."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/us-health-insurance-system-doctors