logo
Noem takes heat on Texas amid doubts over FEMA flood response

Noem takes heat on Texas amid doubts over FEMA flood response

Yahoo4 days ago
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is under fire amid reports of a botched disaster response effort in Texas, one that the editorial board of the state's biggest newspaper is comparing to the debacle that followed Hurricane Katrina.
'Heck of a job, Secretary Noem,' the Houston Chronicle's editorial board wrote Monday, riffing on former President George W. Bush's notorious praise of then-Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Michael Brown as New Orleans flooded.
The editors joined Democratic members of Congress — including Sens. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Chris Murphy (Conn.) and Ed Markey (Mass.), as well as Texas Reps. Greg Casar and Jasmine Crockett — in calling for investigations into Noem's handling of FEMA, an agency both she and President Trump have previously talked about closing, amid reports of poor response times and local volunteers filling in for federal responders.
On Tuesday, Markey called for Noem's resignation, describing her handling of the floods as 'an absolute disgrace.'
In a video posted to the social platform X, Murphy said FEMA had begun to look like 'a PR agency for the secretary of Homeland Security, not an actual disaster response agency.'
Rafael Lemaitre, FEMA director of public affairs under former President Obama, said Trump and Noem's vision for FEMA — one where it exists mostly to back up state responses — is largely already reality.
The Trump administration, he said, 'is in denial about the role of FEMA, the improvements that FEMA has made since Hurricane Katrina — not only in its ability to respond better to disasters but to help communities prepare for them in an era of increased severity and frequency in disasters.'
Since the reforms after hurricanes Rita and Katrina, FEMA has functioned as a support service for local officials, who must request its aid and run the disaster response themselves.
'If there ever was a federal agency built not to tell states how to handle things but to support them when needed, it's FEMA, which only kicks in when a state's capacity is exceeded, whether in response, recovery, mitigation, or preparedness,' Lemaitre said. 'Governors, red or blue, are in charge. They ask for what they need, and we provide it.'
He argued that the administration is undoing the post-Katrina reforms, starting with its new head, David Richardson, who is under fire for his failure to make any public statements or appearances for more than a week after the floods.
Richardson, who runs FEMA part-time, is the first agency head since Brown without any background in disaster response. Under the post-Katrina law requiring FEMA heads to have at least five years of disaster management experience, he would be disqualified — but as an acting head, he's exempt.
On Wednesday, at the inaugural Hill Nation Summit in Washington, Noem told NewsNation's Blake Burman that Trump's 'vision for FEMA is that we would empower states to be able to respond to their constituents much more than what FEMA has done in the past.'
'In Texas,' she told Burman, the agency 'cut through the bureaucratic red tape and the rules and regulations that were left over from the Biden administration so that we immediately predeployed millions of dollars to Texas so that they could run their response.'
Over the weekend, Noem attacked the press reports of a poor response in Texas, insisting on 'Fox and Friends' that the reporting of FEMA delays are 'fake news' and 'absolute trash.'
She told NBC News that 'it's discouraging that during this time, when we have such a loss of life, and so many people's lives have turned upside down, that people are playing politics with this, because the response time was immediate.'
Pressed on reports of low response rates at FEMA hotlines, Noem said she didn't believe the numbers and challenged anonymous sources to come forward.
In a statement to The Hill, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin decried reporting that the agency had been slow to deploy teams as 'lies' and 'an unapparelled display of activist journalism.'
'Within moments of the flooding in Texas, DHS [Department of Homeland Security] assets, including the U.S. Coast Guard, tactical Border Patrol units and FEMA personnel surged into unprecedented action alongside Texas first responders,' McLaughlin said.
'By Tuesday, FEMA had deployed 311 staffers, providing support and shelter for hundreds of people,' she added.
McLaughlin argued calls to dismantle the agency had been metaphorical. Under the new administration, she said, 'It's no secret that FEMA, as it is today, will no longer exist.' In what has now become a mantra of Noem's tenure, she added that the agency 'is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief.'
That message has also been embraced by Trump's Republican allies in Texas. In a press conference Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) agreed with the administration that FEMA needed to be 'what I call rightsized, so that it would be more nimble, quicker in response — understanding it's the locals that know what's best in responding to a disaster.'
But this description of the future course of the agency looks a lot like how it has traditionally looked, former disaster management professionals have told The Hill.
'They try to equate FEMA with red tape, but that's a red herring, because that's not how the disaster response system has been set up, particularly since Katrina,' Lemaitre said.
FEMA has lost 25 percent of staff since Trump took office, cuts worsened after the floods when hundreds of call center contractors were let go, according to The New York Times.
That followed reporting from CNN that Noem waited 72 hours to send FEMA disaster response teams to Kerr County — because under her leadership, the agency has to get her approval for every expenditure of more than $100,000.
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson called CNN's reporting 'absolute hogwash.'
Given the funds that FEMA works with and the size of Noem's purview at the department, the reported delays are 'really, really upsetting,' said Candace Valenzuela, who ran the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the region that includes Texas under former President Biden.
'It just reeks of looking at things granularly, and not understanding that this is a massive country, and doing it at that level just does not work — or wanting to pick winners and losers,' Valenzuela said.
One impact of Noem's new mandate seems to be fewer federal personnel on the ground than in past disasters. In far western Travis County, where devastating floods killed more than a dozen people, even the county's chief executive isn't clear what role FEMA is playing.
While Judge Andy Brown declared a local disaster in the county the day of the floods, Trump didn't approve it until nearly a week later, and, as of Tuesday, Brown had seen just one uniformed FEMA official on the ground.
'As far as I know, they have not set up that station where people can walk in, ask questions to FEMA and apply for things,' he told The Hill.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump administration appeals to Supreme Court to allow $783 million research-funding cuts
Trump administration appeals to Supreme Court to allow $783 million research-funding cuts

Yahoo

time27 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Trump administration appeals to Supreme Court to allow $783 million research-funding cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow it to cut hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of research funding in its push to roll back federal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The Justice Department argued a federal judge in Massachusetts was wrong to block the National Institutes of Health from making $783 million worth of cuts to align with President Donald Trump's priorities. U.S. District Judge William Young found that the abrupt cancellations ignored long-held government rules and standards. Young, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, also said the cuts amounted to 'racial discrimination and discrimination against America's LGBTQ community.' The ruling came in lawsuits filed by 16 attorneys general, public-health advocacy groups and some affected scientists. His decision addressed only a fraction of the hundreds of NIH research projects that have been cut. The Trump administration's appeal also takes aim at nearly two dozen cases over funding. Solicitor General D. John Sauer pointed to a 5-4 decision on the Supreme Court's emergency docket from April that allowed cuts to teacher training programs to go forward. That decisions shows that district judges shouldn't be hearing those cases at all, but rather sending them to federal claims court, he argued. Lindsay Whitehurst, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

A paid-for trip to talk immigration with Dr. Phil sparks questions about NYPD's John Chell
A paid-for trip to talk immigration with Dr. Phil sparks questions about NYPD's John Chell

Yahoo

time27 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

A paid-for trip to talk immigration with Dr. Phil sparks questions about NYPD's John Chell

NEW YORK — John Chell, the NYPD's top uniformed cop, had at least $1,000 in travel expenses covered by Dr. Phil last year to participate in an interview with the conservative TV personality — an example of how the powerful police official has become a mainstay of right-wing media, according to records reviewed by the Daily News. Chell, a key ally to Mayor Eric Adams who was at the time the department's chief of patrol, took the trip to Texas in March 2024 to do an interview with Dr. Phil about New York's 'migrant crime wave.' The intersection of migrants and crime is a key talking point of President Trump's administration as it pursues an aggressive deportation agenda, and Chell's comped Texas trip came at a time he was emerging as a regular on Trump-boosting news shows, raising concerns about him mixing policing with partisan politics. In addition to Dr. Phil's shows, Chell has regularly appeared on Newsmax, a pro-Trump outlet, and Fox News. Wearing full uniform, Chell appeared on Newsmax from inside Madison Square Garden during Trump's October 2024 campaign outlet at the arena. Last year, The News reported that Chell — before being promoted to become the NYPD's chief of department — was even considering quitting public service to join Newsmax as a paid political commentator. Since then, Chell has bolstered ties with Trump, including golfing with the president at his New Jersey club last month, while also attracting scrutiny from city oversight agencies over some of his political activities. Chell, a registered independent voter, didn't violate rules or laws by having his Texas tab picked up by Dr. Phil. Chell also regularly appears on media outlets seen as less partisan, including local and national TV stations. Still, Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer, a Democrat who's the chairwoman of the Council's Oversight Committee, argued Chell appearing on overtly pro-Trump outlets takes on a potentially problematic political overtone. 'It could be a problem to go on quasi news channels that are very conservative and Trump-oriented because it doesn't look great for the police department,' said Brewer, whose committee has oversight to probe the NYPD. 'But it is not illegal as far as I can tell.' Ken Frydman, a longtime New York media consultant who has worked for several of the NYPD's labor unions, agreed with Brewer, calling Chell's Dr. Phil appearance 'not only bad optics' but also 'inappropriate.' Senior police officials like Chell, Frydman added, shouldn't engage in activities that could be construed as 'public political positions' as that could send a signal that the NYPD as a whole is partisan. Details about Chell's Texas trip were included in his 2024 financial disclosure, provided to The News this month by the city Conflicts of Interest Board. The document shows Dr. Phil, a vocal Trump supporter whose real name is Phil McGraw, paid between $1,000 and $5,000 on 'travel & lodging' for the chief. The disclosure, which only offers a range as opposed to an exact dollar figure, says the trip had a 'city-related' purpose, meaning Chell's travel was considered an official government activity. Adams' office has routinely said the city pays for expenditures related to official activities municipal employees engage in. But an NYPD spokesperson noted the City Charter allows for officials to accept travel costs as a gift when 'the trip is for a City purpose and therefore could properly be paid for with City funds.' 'The purpose of the trip was to exchange views regarding policing in America, including discussion regarding the challenges facing New York City amid the migrant crisis,' said the spokesperson, who didn't provide the exact cost of Chell's accommodations and airfare. Earlier this year, the Department of Investigation determined that Chell violated NYPD guidelines by using his official social media accounts to go after political critics online, a finding that came after Chell had planned to deliver remarks at a Republican club meeting in Queens. Then, earlier this month, it emerged the Department of Investigation has separately started looking into a complaint alleging Chell misused police resources by bringing his security detail along with him as he traveled to his Trump golf outing last month. That complaint was filed by Rev. Kevin McCall, a Brooklyn civil rights activist and pastor. In response to Dr. Phil paying for Chell's Texas trip, McCall said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch should 'get a hold of this media monger.' 'This is an insult to every New Yorker who expects NYPD to be a public institution not a personal brand platform,' McCall said. 'John Chell is being allowed to run rogue.' Since Chell's Texas trip, Dr. Phil has grown increasingly close with Adams and his administration. Last month, the New York Times reported Dr. Phil introduced Adams to Tom Homan, Trump's 'border czar,' who then proceeded to coordinate with administration officials on deportation raids that were called off by Tisch amid concerns they would have violated local sanctuary laws. Recently, Dr. Phil's TV network also signed a deal with Adams' office to do a documentary called 'Behind the Badge,' which is expected to highlight the work of the NYPD, specifically focusing on Chell and Kaz Daughtry, Adams' deputy mayor for public safety. Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak declined this month to share a copy of the Dr. Phil contract. _____

Trump signs order aimed at removing homeless from streets
Trump signs order aimed at removing homeless from streets

Yahoo

time27 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Trump signs order aimed at removing homeless from streets

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at removing homeless people from streets. The measure, titled by the White House as 'Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets,' calls on Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek to overturn legal rulings the Trump administration says make it difficult for cities and states to force homeless people into shelters and substance-abuse centers, USA Today first reported. It will also redirect federal funding for homeless programs, many of which aim to provide housing to those in need, to addiction programs and mental health resources, although it was not immediately clear how much money would be involved. 'By removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting resources toward substance abuse programs, the Trump administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities and that individuals suffering from addiction or mental health struggles are able to get the help they need,' White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. The order also seeks to prioritize federal grants to cities and states that 'enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders.' Official figures say America's homeless population is more than 700,000 and rising. But advocates say the number is actually much higher. New York City is one of a few jurisdictions with a 'right to shelter,' meaning in theory that any homeless person has the right to a spot in a shelter. Trump has made fighting big city crime and disorder a major plank of his second White House term, although most measures show crime is declining. Instead of working with Congress or big city mayors, most of whom are Democrats, he has preferred to enact executive orders, some of which have faced critical scrutiny from courts. The edict is touted as forming part of Trump's commitment to ending homelessness, according to a White House fact sheet. It comes after an executive order in March directed the National Park Service to clear homeless encampments and graffiti on federal lands. The Supreme Court ruled in June that that authorities can fine or arrest homeless people for sleeping in public spaces. The ruling, which was approved by a 6-3 margin along ideological lines, overturned a lower court's ruling that it is cruel and unusual punishment to enforce camping bans when shelter is lacking. ________

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store