FEMA’s response to the deadly flooding in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend has been less than ideal, according to multiple reports.
Sources inside the Federal Emergency Management Agency have told CNN that the agency’s handling of the recovery effort was hampered by spending roadblocks implemented by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The New York Times has simultaneously reported that FEMA has been slow to activate search-and-rescue efforts, citing half a dozen current and former FEMA officials and disaster experts.
The CNN report has particularly rankled the Trump administration, which last month implemented a rule at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requiring Noem to sign off on every agency contract or grant worth over $100,000. FEMA warned at the time that such a rule could hamper their ability to respond to disasters efficiently, given that the mass mobilizations of first responders can quickly amount to millions if not billions in spending.
“We were operating under a clear set of guidance: lean forward, be prepared, anticipate what the state needs, and be ready to deliver it,” a FEMA official told CNN. “That is not as clear of an intent for us at the moment.”
As local officials moved to respond to the devastating floods, which have killed at least 120 people, potential support assets under FEMA control were unable to deploy due to funding approval delays. Multiple sources told CNN that Noem did not release the funding to deploy FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams until over 72 hours after the floods began on Friday.
Noem laughed off the reporting on Thursday, calling it “absolutely trash” during an interview on Fox News. DHS responded to the report in a lengthy statement on Wednesday, writing that the report was “a FAKE NEWS LIE from CNN.”
Noem “is leading a historic, first-of-its-kind approach to disaster funding: putting states first by providing upfront recovery support — moving money faster than ever and jump starting recovery. This is a breakthrough in how FEMA supports state-led disaster recovery,” the statement, posted to social media, added.
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The department claimed that Noem had “deployed to Texas, working day and night to approve every possible need that search and rescue workers had,” while “these “journalists” slept comfortably in D.C.”
As DHS touts FEMA’s response to the disaster in Texas, the agency’s future remains in limbo. The president and his allies seemingly remain committed to dismantling it entirely.
On Wednesday, as search and recovery efforts continued in central Texas with FEMA involvement, Noem said that “this entire agency needs to be eliminated as it exists today, and remade into a responsive agency.”
“Federal emergency management should be state and locally led, rather than how it has operated for decades,” Noem added.
The administration has been attempting to wind down FEMA since Trump took office, but have been unable to find a workaround to the reality that natural disasters don’t put themselves on pause to accommodate political scheming. Trump determined last month that he would allow FEMA to remain active until the end of hurricane season before beginning its phase out. The move came after warnings from meteorologists and other experts that the 2025 hurricane season may be more intense than usual.
Areas attempting to recover from natural disasters in the first months of the Trump administration have felt the sting of rejection and funding delays. In May, the Trump administration denied North Carolina’s request for FEMA to honor a Biden-era commitment to pay for 100 percent of debris removal costs in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Conservative-led stats like Arkansas and Missouri have also had trouble securing disaster relief funding in a timely manner.According to a June report from News 6 Orlando, Lake Helen — a Florida town ravaged by multiple hurricanes including Ian, Nicole, and Milton — is struggling under a $2 million pile of expenses that have not been reimbursed by FEMA, despite pending approval requests to the agency.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, seems to want nothing to do with helping states recovery from natural disasters.
From Rolling Stone US
