President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the agency that oversees weather told senators at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that a proposal to cut more than a quarter of the agency's budget wouldn't jeopardize its ability to predict severe events like wildfires in the Northwest or the recent deadly flooding in Texas.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday dodged questions about whether state and local officials bore any blame in the deadly Hill Country floods. Abbott and other state and local officials have sought to dismiss questions about the lack of a warning system along the flood-prone Guadalupe River or whether more could have been done to prevent the catastrophe.