FEMA was plagued by scandals under Joe Biden.
Big changes are in store.
And Kristi Noem made one decision about FEMA that sent shockwaves through the Swamp.
Kristi Noem announces that FEMA will be shut down
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) exists to help Americans in times of need during a natural disaster.
But it has become another bloated and ineffective federal agency in the Washington, D.C. Swamp.
FEMA came under fire last year for its failed response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which devastated the southeast.
Storm victims in western North Carolina were left stranded after historic flooding from Hurricane Helene.
Impeached former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that FEMA had run out of money for disasters last fall before Milton.
FEMA spent more than $600 million caring for illegal aliens under the Biden administration last year.
The agency was rocked with another scandal after a whistleblower claimed FEMA supervisors in Florida were ordering relief workers to skip homes with flags or signs showing support for President Donald Trump.
A major overhaul of the government is underway by Trump, and FEMA will be included in that.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said at a cabinet meeting that FEMA was going to be eliminated.
She did not share specifics about what would happen to disaster relief.
Former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who oversaw the response to Helene and Milton, admitted that the agency had to do a better job in January.
“We can do better. Survivors deserve better,” Criswell said at the time.
Trump created a 20-person group to review FEMA’s operations in January.
Giving more money and power to the states
Noem told CNN in February that she supports getting rid of FEMA as it exists today.
“I would say, yes, get rid of FEMA the way it exists today, we still need the resources and the funds and the finances to go to people that have these types of disasters, like Hurricane Helene and the fires in California but you need to let the local officials make the decisions on how that is deployed, so it can be deployed much quicker. And we don’t need this bureaucracy that’s picking and choosing winners,” Noem stated.
FEMA has become an obstacle to getting money and help to people who are suffering after dealing with a natural disaster.
Trump suggested giving the money directly to the states during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity in January.
“FEMA is whole another discussion, because all it does is complicate everything,” Trump said. “FEMA has not done their job for the last four years. I had FEMA working really well…but unless you have certain types of leadership, it’s really — it gets in the way, and FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems.”
Trump said that Oklahoma could do a better job responding to a tornado and the federal government could provide them with money.
FEMA failed Americans in their hour of need during the Biden administration.
Disaster relief is getting an overhaul to make sure victims get the help they need.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
