分析：扎卡里·B·沃尔夫，美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
发布时间：2026年2月20日，美国东部时间凌晨4:00
2026年1月23日，马里兰州贝塞斯达克拉拉·巴顿公园道旁，波托马克拦截下水道管线坍塌，未经处理的污水倾泻而出。
莉娅·米利斯/路透社
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所有人都认为，近2.5亿加仑的未经处理污水泄漏是一场生态紧急事件和环境灾难。但即便有几亿加仑的污水被排入波托马克河，也无法让美国两党团结起来。
目前，尚无人知晓1月发生在华盛顿特区上游马里兰州联邦土地上的管道破裂造成的全部损害程度。据华盛顿特区水务局（DC Water）称，饮用水未受破裂影响。当局已紧急采取措施减缓泄漏，并将污水引至该地区历史悠久的运河系统。但本月早些时候的检测显示，泄漏点下游9英里范围内的细菌含量有所升高。
联邦政府将提供帮助，但你必须提出请求
联邦政府并未联合行动，而是在唐纳德·特朗普总统的带领下，与地方当局（特别是马里兰州民主党州长韦斯·摩尔）就何时以及如何提供联邦援助产生争执。
特朗普显然希望将责任归咎于地方政府，并让摩尔向他求助，这一点在他一系列社交媒体帖子中表述得十分清楚。
“如果他们做不好这份工作，只需要打个电话，态度礼貌且尊重，联邦政府就会接手处理，并日后向他们收取服务费用。”特朗普周四在社交媒体上谈到马里兰州和弗吉尼亚州时表示。
白宫发言人卡罗琳·利维特周三在新闻发布会上表示，根据法律，地方官员必须请求帮助，“以便联邦政府能够接管这一被马里兰州州长韦斯·摩尔长期忽视和废弃的地方基础设施。”
利维特援引的1974年《斯塔福德法案》确实提到，总统可应州长请求宣布紧急状态。
“请履行你的职责”
摩尔周四接受美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）记者卡西·亨特采访时，回应了特朗普此前的请求。
“如果总统希望我礼貌地求助——我现在就礼貌地请求总统：总统先生，请履行你的职责。”摩尔说道。但这一请求似乎并未满足特朗普的要求。
同样在周三寻求帮助的是华盛顿特区市长缪里尔·鲍泽，她在与特朗普互动时采取了更具策略性的方式。她宣布就泄漏事件进入紧急状态，并致函正式请求联邦支持，具体要求包括联邦报销清理费用、美国陆军工程兵团对泄漏点进行评估，以及对华盛顿特区水务局的水处理设施进行长期投资。
对于习惯了看到特朗普政府在未经地方当局批准的情况下派遣国民警卫队或移民管理部门进入各州的美国人来说，特朗普现在希望摩尔直接请求帮助处理污水泄漏，这似乎是一个转变。
摩尔辩称，联邦政府已经对此负责，因为涉事管道属于华盛顿特区水务局，且位于联邦土地上。
“我们正在讨论的这片区域过去一个世纪都处于联邦控制之下。任何暗示这是马里兰州或弗吉尼亚州问题的说法都是荒谬的。”他补充说，他已下令马里兰州官员协助应对危机，以解决安全问题并体现邻里互助精神。
“我相信要帮助我们的邻居。”
特朗普将泄漏事件作为攻击摩尔的又一理由
摩尔目前并未竞选总统，但他是民主党冉冉升起的明星，外界普遍认为他可能会在2028年参选。他的全国知名度可能与特朗普决定就污水泄漏事件对他进行人身攻击有关。特朗普还就重建巴尔的摩坍塌的弗朗西斯·斯科特·基大桥问题与摩尔发生争执。特朗普曾一度威胁要扣留联邦资金，以阻止大桥重建。此外，特朗普还打破惯例，拒绝邀请摩尔和科罗拉多州州长贾里德·波利斯参加通常是两党议员共同出席的州长晚宴。
特朗普还可能想强调，联邦紧急事务管理局（FEMA）属于国土安全部（DHS），而该庞大机构目前因缺乏资金而“停摆”——尽管实际工作仍在继续。
“这些由民主党引发的灾难，无论是河流污染还是政府停摆，只会愈演愈烈。”特朗普在Truth Social平台上说道，尽管没有证据表明泄漏是民主党造成的。在国会山，民主党人希望在批准年度拨款法案前，将移民管理部门的相关策略写入法律。
FEMA成为政治博弈的焦点
美国有线电视新闻网记者加布·科恩曾报道资金短缺对FEMA的影响，称FEMA工作人员已被冻结出行，实际上大多数新的灾难部署工作都已暂停。
这一报道与特朗普周二在Truth Social上的言论相矛盾，特朗普称“真正的爱国者”将在华盛顿特区和马里兰州开展救援。
这显然是特朗普政府希望传递的信息。
科恩指出，国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆在推特上表示：“民主党控制的国会已经停发FEMA资金，让我们辛勤工作的员工无薪工作——但FEMA现在正在协调美国历史上最大规模的污水泄漏之一的清理工作。”
与此同时，FEMA和特朗普均表示，截至周四，FEMA的每日简报仍显示该机构“正在监测”泄漏情况，尚未部署资源控制泄漏或处理污染。
诺姆以及在一定程度上的特朗普此前曾暗示要大幅削减FEMA——该机构目前正处于诺姆和国土安全部的大刀阔斧改革之中。他们希望各州主要自行应对灾害救援，但在白宫突然取消特朗普12月组建的特别工作组会议后，这些想法有所改变。
摩尔还指出，污水泄漏已基本得到控制，FEMA应批准其去年拒绝向马里兰州提供的资金。摩尔当时表示，扣留资金是出于政治目的。
特朗普将灾害救援视为应直接由他分配的资源，并有证据表明他更愿意将资金给予政治上支持他的州。此外，国土安全部曾试图因移民政策问题扣留FEMA拨款给民主党执政的州，但联邦法官去年12月进行了干预。
美国环境保护局局长李·泽尔丁在周二的推文中对泄漏事件的描述更为冷静。
他指出，华盛顿特区水务局一直在领导清理工作，马里兰州也在协助进行监管监督，但他强调，截至周二，州政府和特区政府均未提出支持请求。
“我们随时准备提供帮助，依靠我们卓越的团队！！”他在X平台（原推特）上表示。
与此同时，泽尔丁试图调整EPA的方向，重点是通过削减法规来帮助美国企业。
As the sewage spills, the politicians snipe
Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN
PUBLISHED Feb 20, 2026, 4:00 AM ET
Untreated sewage spills out of the collapsed Potomac Interceptor sewer line next to the Clara Barton Parkway in Bethesda, Maryland, on January 23, 2026.
Leah Millis/Reuters
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for freehere.
Everyone agrees that a spill of nearly 250 million gallons of raw sewage is an ecological emergency and an environmental disaster. But not even hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage dumped into the Potomac River can bring the American political parties together.
Nobody yet knows the full extent of the damage caused by a ruptured pipe on federal land in Maryland upstream from Washington, DC, in January. Drinking water was not affected by the rupture, according to DC Water. Authorities have scrambled to slow the spill and divert sewage into the area’s historic canal system. But testing earlier this month showed elevated levels of bacteria up to 9 miles downstream of the spill.
The feds will help. But you have to ask
Rather than joining forces, the federal government, following President Donald Trump’s lead, is beefing with local authorities, in particular Democratic Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, about when and how federal assistance is required.
Trump really wants to blame local governments and for Moore to ask him for help, as he made clear in a series of social media posts.
“If they can’t do the job, all they have to do is call, be polite and respectful, and the Federal Government will handle it, and bill them for services rendered, at a later date,” Trump said Thursday on social media, referring to Maryland and Virginia.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday during a White House briefing that local officials, by law, must request help “so that the federal government can go and take control of this local infrastructure that has been abandoned and neglected by Governor Moore in Maryland for far too long.”
The Stafford Act, the 1974 law Leavitt cited, does refer to presidents declaring states of emergency at the request of a governor.
‘Please do your job’
Moore responded to an earlier version of Trump’s request during an interview with CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Thursday.
“If the president wants me to ask nicely — here’s my nice ask of the president: Mr. President, please do your job,” Moore said. The request does not appear to have been enough for Trump.
Also asking for help Wednesday was DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has taken a more tactical approach in her interactions with Trump. She declared a state of emergency over the spill and wrote a letter formally asking for federal support with a specific list of requests, including federal reimbursement for the cost of cleanup, an Army Corps of Engineers assessment of the breach and long-term investments in DC Water’s water treatment facilities.
For Americans used to seeing reports of the Trump administration sending the National Guard or immigration authorities into states without the approval of local authorities, it may seem like a pivot for Trump to now want Moore to directly ask for help dealing with the sewage spill.
Moore argued the federal government is already responsible since the pipe in question belongs to DC Water and sits on federal land.
“The area that we’re talking about — that has been under federal control for the past century. And so, any indication or any insinuation that somehow this is a Maryland issue or Virginia issue is ridiculous,” he said, adding he has ordered Maryland officials to help respond to the crisis in order to address safety concerns and to be neighborly.
“I believe in actually helping our neighbors,” he said.
Trump uses spill as another reason to attack Moore
Moore is not currently running for president, but he is a rising star in the Democratic Party and is widely expected to consider a run in 2028. That national profile could have something to do with Trump’s decision to insult him over the water issue. Trump has also clashed with Moore over rebuilding the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. At one point, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding to rebuild the major traffic artery. Trump also broke precedent when he refused to invite Moore and Colorado’s Jared Polis to a normally bipartisan dinner with governors.
Trump also may want to draw attention to the fact that FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, the massive agency that is currently operating without funding, which is commonly referred to as a “shutdown,” even though the work still must get done.
“These Democrat caused Disasters, both River and Shutdown, will only get worse,” Trump said on Truth Social, although there’s no evidence the spill was caused by Democrats. On Capitol Hill, Democrats want restrictions on the tactics of immigration authorities written into law before they will approve an annual funding bill.
FEMA, political football
CNN’s Gabe Cohen wrote about the effect the funding lapse is having on FEMA, where a travel freeze has been imposed on workers, effectively putting a halt to most new disaster deployments.
That reporting is at odds with what Trump said in a Truth Social post Tuesday, when he argued “true Patriots” from the agency would respond in DC and Maryland.
This is clearly a message the Trump administration wants to convey.
Cohen pointed out that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem tweeted, “Democrats in Congress have shut down @FEMA funding — leaving our hard working employees to work without pay — yet FEMA is now stepping in to coordinate cleanup of one of the largest raw sewage spills in U.S. history.”
At the same time, FEMA, as Trump and Moore both suggested, has not deployed resources to help control the spill or address the contamination. As of Thursday, FEMA’s daily briefing still indicated the agency was “monitoring” the spill.
Noem and, to a lesser extent, Trump have previously suggested severely cutting FEMA, which is already in the midst of a heavy-handed overhaul at the hands of Noem and DHS. They want states to largely address their own disaster relief, but those ideas are in flux after the White House abruptly canceled a December meeting of a special task force assembled by Trump.
Moore has also argued the sewage spill is largely contained and that FEMA should be approving funds it refused to give Maryland after catastrophic flooding last year. Moore said at the time that withholding the funds was a political move.
Trump has viewed disaster relief as something that should be doled out directly by him, and there is evidence he prefers to give money to states that support him politically. Separately, DHS tried to withhold FEMA grant money from states run by Democrats over their immigration policies, but a federal judge intervened last December.
Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin was more even-keeled about the sewage spill in his description of the disaster in a Tuesday tweet.
He noted that DC Water has been leading the cleanup effort and Maryland has been helping with regulatory oversight, but he pointed out neither the state nor the city had, as of Tuesday, requested support.
“We are ALWAYS ready to lead and assist with our exceptional agency team!!” he said on X.
At the same time, Zeldin has tried to reorient the EPA to focus on helping US businesses by cutting regulations.
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