President Donald Trump rejected $227 million in disaster aid requests from four Democrat-led states hit by February’s record blizzard, drawing accusations of political favoritism after he approved more than $846 million for Republican-led states two days earlier.

Figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency show Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island each cleared the damage threshold for a major disaster declaration. Their governors are moving to appeal.

Trump signed off on the denials July 2, the same day his administration approved relief for nine GOP-leaning states, Rhode Island’s congressional delegation said in a letter demanding he reverse course.

The Feb. 22-23 blizzard dumped 37.9 inches of snow in a 24-hour period in Rhode Island, produced 74 mph wind gusts, led to the deaths of two people, and knocked out power to tens of thousands, according to the delegation’s letter.

FEMA documented $45 million in damage in Massachusetts, $84.4 million in New Jersey, $79 million in New York, and $19 million in Rhode Island, according to state officials and Politico reporting.

Each figure exceeded the federal threshold that would trigger aid; New Jersey’s threshold is roughly $18.5 million, and Rhode Island’s documented damage was about 10 times its qualifying threshold.

In a statement, FEMA said that it had “returned to a more rigorous review process” and that snowstorm damage must be “genuinely extraordinary” to qualify, adding that “the East Coast is generally expected to manage major snowstorms independently.”

Congressional appropriators pushed back on that reasoning in January, when a bipartisan spending measure affirmed that “snowstorms shall be eligible for Federal relief.”

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