Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said on Sunday that Donald Trump wants to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) “remade” instead of eradicated entirely.
In a new interview on Sunday with NBC, Noem defended the Trump administration’s response to the deadly Texas floods that have killed at least 120 people, saying: “I think the president recognizes that Fema should not exist the way that it always has been. It needs to be redeployed in a new way, and that’s what we did during this response.”
Noem added: “I think he wants it to be remade so that it’s an agency that is new in how it deploys and supports states.”
Her comments follow widespread criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the Texas floods as reports emerged of thousands of calls from flood survivors being left unanswered by Fema’s call centers due to unextended contracts.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Fema did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line. The outlet also reported that Noem, who implemented a new policy that she personally signs off on contracts over $100,000, did not renew the contracts until five days after they expired in the middle of the floods.
Noem decried the reports as “fake news”, saying: “That report needs to be validified. I’m not certain it’s accurate, and I’m not sure where it came from, and the individuals who are giving you information out of Fema, I’d love to have them put their names behind it because the anonymous attacks to politicize the situation is completely wrong.”
Noem went on to acknowledge her policy of personally signing off on contracts worth more than $100,000, saying: “It’s not extra red tape, it’s making sure everything is getting to my level, and that it’s immediately responded to.”
She also praised Fema’s response as the “best response” in years to the Texas floods, saying: “This response was by far the best response we’ve seen out of Fema, the best response we’ve seen out of the federal government in many, many years, and certainly much better than what we saw under Joe Biden.”
Despite Noem’s defense of the agency and the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis, many have criticized Fema as the downsized agency has seen approximately 2,000 resignations and retirements since Trump’s inauguration.
Speaking to the Guardian, Michael Coen, Fema’s former chief of staff, said: “I’m concerned that Fema is going to be at a disadvantage because they don’t have the resources to respond to the disasters we know could happen, which could be two or three concurrent disasters at the same time.
“Fema has eroded capacity since President Trump became president. Staff have departed. There have been cuts to grant programs and they are going to be running into a financial challenge with the disaster relief fund, because the president hasn’t requested supplemental funding from Congress.”
Since taking office, Trump has routinely threatened to disband the agency which was set up by Jimmy Carter in 1979 following states’ struggle to handle major disasters. In June, Trump said that he planned to start “phasing out” Fema after hurricane season and that states would receive federal aid to respond to natural disasters.
“We’re going to give out less money,” Trump said.
Last month, Noem also said that Fema “fundamentally needs to go away as it exists”, adding that states should have more responsibility when handling natural disasters.
However, since the Texas floods, which mark Trump’s first major natural disaster since taking office in January, his administration’s rhetoric on eliminating Fema has appeared to shift.
Earlier this week, upon being asked whether he still plans to phase out the agency, Trump said it was a matter “we can talk about later”. Similarly, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters that the federal government’s response to natural disasters was a “policy discussion that will continue”.
