The Trump administration is aggressively going after government waste.
Federal bureaucrats are worried if they will be next.
And Kristi Noem called for this government agency to get the axe.
FEMA in the crosshairs
During last year’s hurricanes, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) failed big time.
Americans learned that they were mostly on their own.
Thankfully, many private individuals and groups stepped up to help hurricane victims.
Now the agency has found themselves in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.
In an appearance with CNN’s Dana Bash, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked, “Can and should Donald Trump shut it down?”
“He can. And I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team,” Noem said. “And he’s talking about it, which I’m grateful for. He’ll work with Congress, though, to make sure that it’s done correctly and that we’re still there to help folks who have a terrible disaster or a crisis in their life. He’s been very clear that he still believes there’s a role for the federal government to come in and help people get back up on their feet. But there’s a lot of fraud and waste and abuse out there. And since President Trump has taken over and come back into this administration, we’ve seen incredible change,” Noem replied.
As Governor, Noem oversaw 12 natural disasters that involved a FEMA response.
The Trump administration is considering block grants for state and local governments to handle their disasters in lieu of FEMA.
When asked what she would tell Trump regarding FEMA, Noem replied, “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,” Noem said. “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 noted that Trump “has been clear, too, that he still wants to help people,” but condemned FEMA for “targeting individuals, helping some people and not others.”
Last year, there were reports that FEMA employees skipped over houses that had Trump signs.
Defending DOGE
Noem also defended Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and their audits of federal agencies.
“We’re working with them at the president’s direction to find what we can do to make our department much more efficient,” she said. “This is essentially an audit of the federal government…. And one of the things I’ve been very clear to the appropriators in the Senate and the House is please give me the authority to reprogram funds.”
Following the interview, Musk posted on X that FEMA spent $59 million on “luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.”
FEMA, along with every single other federal bureaucracy, is now under a microscope.
The gravy-train that these agencies have enjoyed for far too long is finally coming to a halt.
