Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem said Sunday that she supported removing the “How to Exist Today” Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Appearing in CNN’s “The State of the Union,” Noem’s stance appeared in line with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s stance. We gained access to FEMA’s sensitive disaster relief data and reviewed the program.
“Can Donald Trump close it?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Noem.
“He can and I believe he will do his team and his evaluation,” Noem said. “And he’s talking about it. I’m grateful for it. But he’s working with Congress. Life still has a role to help the federal government come and get people up. And back in this administration, we have seen incredible changes.”
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Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem will speak to staff at DHS headquarters in Washington, DC on January 28, 2025 (Manuel Balce Ceneta-Pool/Getty Images)
Noem, who visited Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday to meet with victims of Hurricane Helen and investigate the damage, oversaw 12 different natural disasters that spurred FEMA’s response while he was the governor of South Dakota, told CNN He spoke.
As Trump considers block grants for state and local officials experiencing natural disasters, Noem said on Sunday that local officials, including the county’s emergency management director, city council, city council and committee members, had said, “Washington.” “We’ve made much better decisions than people in the world,” he said. DC ”
When the president asked him to remove FEMA, asked what she would tell Trump, Noem said, “I say yes, I’ll remove FEMA in the way that exists today.”
“We still need resources, funding and finances to go to people with these types of disasters, like Hurricane Helen and the California fires,” Noem told Bash. “But we need to make decisions to local officials about how that will unfold.
White House Border Emperor Tom Homan and DHS Executive Director Christie Noem outside the White House in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.
Noem also said Trump was “clear that he still wanted to help people,” but blamed FEMA for “targeting individuals and helping some people, not others.” did. The secretary appeared to be referring to how a FEMA employee under former President Biden skipped homes in a large area in a hurricane that showed pro-Trump signs last year.
Kristi Noem heads to Asheville amid intense criticism of FEMA’s response under Biden
Norm also referred to how Trump closes 80% of North Carolina’s open FEMA cases related to Hurricane Helen, saying, “It’s amazing when people care.
The DHS secretary also defended Musk as Doge is conducting an audit of federal agencies.
Trump established the FEMA Review Council last month to improve the agency after Hurricane Helen destroyed places like Asheville, North Carolina. (Reuters/Marco Bello; AP Photo/Marco Bello)
“We can work with them at the president’s direction and find out what we can do to make our department more efficient,” Noem said. “It’s essentially a federal audit… And one of the things that made me so clear to the Senate budget children is to give them the power to reprogram the funds.”
When asked if she felt satisfied with mask data access, Noem said: The President appointed him by identifying the work he is doing and his information.
After the interview, Musk posted to X on Monday morning. His Doge team discovered last week that FEMA alone had sent $59 million to a “luxury hotel in New York City to house illegal immigrants.” “Sending this money violates the law and is severely mitigated by the president’s executive order,” Musk said, adding, “The money is intended to help America with disaster relief and instead high-end for illegals.” It’s spent on hotels!
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“There will be demand for clawbacks today to regain those funds,” Musk added.
Daniel Wallace is a news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and to X:@danimwallace.
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