Secretary Kristi Noem Is Failing FEMA
Sec. Kristi Noem’s FEMA Oversight Has Left the Agency Less Prepared for Disaster
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mere hours before a severe winter storm overwhelmed the South this weekend, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem desperately paused the firings of hundreds of disaster relief workers. The quick reversal lays bare what has been evident since Noem began her tenure: Under President Donald Trump and Noem, FEMA is underprepared for disaster and less capable of protecting American families.
“Secretary Noem’s time at the Department of Homeland Security has been a failure on all fronts,” said Sabotaging Our Safety Advisory Council Member and CWA District 6 Vice President (TX) Derrick Osobase. “Her rapid dismantling of FEMA did not make the agency more efficient, it left it incapable of protecting Americans in the midst of disaster. The chaos leading into this storm has made it clear that we need an independent FEMA, free of the political dealings of the administration.”
Earlier this month, four members of Congress demanded Secretary Noem’s immediate resignation for her mismanagement of FEMA. Representatives Troy Carter (LA-02), Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Greg Stanton (AZ-04), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) sent a letter to Donald Trump detailing Noem’s pattern of failures – from her gutting of FEMA’s workforce to her $100,000 bureaucratic rule that has hamstrung disaster response nationwide.
Since Secretary Noem assumed her position last year, 20% of FEMA staff have been slashed, critical emergency funds have been frozen, and FEMA attempted to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program—threatening $4.6 billion in flood mitigation funding. On top of that, leaked plans to eliminate 11,500 positions threaten to cut FEMA's already dwindling workforce in half.
The New York Times reported this morning that Secretary Noem’s onerous demand to personally review any expenditure over $100,000 has delayed $17 billion in disaster funds for states. Most of the funds held up are already approved by local FEMA officials and are intended to reimburse work already completed by local governments working under significant budget restraints.
Under Noem, disaster relief has become increasingly political. Sabotaging Our Safety found that the Trump administration has approved disaster declarations for 78% of disasters in states he won in 2024 compared to just 33% in states he lost, abandoning communities after their homes are destroyed and their livelihoods decimated due to the political leanings of a state.
