News Briefs: President Orders Federal Takeover of Potomac Spill Cleanup

Reuters reports that President Donald Trump has directed federal authorities to assume control over the response to a the spill in Washington, D.C.'s Potomac River, designating FEMA to coordinate the cleanup efforts. The intervention follows the Jan. 19 collapse of a major sewer line, which has since released over 240 million gallons of wastewater into the river. The announcement comes amidst sharp criticism from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who accused the administration of failing to act sooner and noted the EPA's absence at a recent legislative hearing on the crisis. While the EPA stated it had deferred to local utilities for the