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People who think the job of a member of Congress during a local natural disaster is purely performative have definitely never been around a member of Congress during a local natural disaster. It might be the single situation where they can (and do) most affect policy outcomes.
In most situations, members of Congress are legislators, not executives. But in local emergencies, they often take on a role that mimics executive decision-making, as they become a federal coordinator / POC for local executives.
In the legislature, they are one of 435 or 100. In a local emergency, they are conduit to tons of resources and a resource who can effectively coordinate certain sets of actors and lean on people to make things happen. Can very much turn into administrators.
It's sort of like their normal casework load, but on steroids and short notice. There's a reason members are glued to their phones and don't sleep when a natural disaster hits their district, and it's emphatically *not* so they can show their constituents how hard they work.
Good thread on same topic. https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/1362411564901539841?s=20
