Some governors — frustrated by the Trump administration — are taking charge while Washington is playing catch-up, several experts on leadership told NBC News.

Trump didn’t declare a national emergency until March 13, by which point 20 governors — a dozen Democrats and eight Republicans — had already declared emergencies in their states. Governors like Andrew Cuomo of New York, Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Jay Inslee of Washington state are “pushing the federal government” for assistance or raising the alarm about community spread, said one political science professor. But others, particularly in the South, have not risen to the occasion.

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