President Donald Trump has turned his focus on FEMA after its sluggish response to disaster victims in North Carolina, California, and other areas. With his administration stepping in to resolve 80% of the remaining cases in just five days, Trump has questioned whether FEMA should continue to exist in its current form.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem toured hard-hit areas of North Carolina, speaking with residents and assessing damage left behind by Hurricane Helene. She noted that many families had gone months without assistance under FEMA’s oversight. “FEMA can often be slow and confusing with a lot of paperwork. I heard that over and over again today,” she said.
Trump personally visited the region, where he sharply criticized FEMA’s failures under the Biden administration. He pointed out that even after more than three months, families were still without essential resources. “Biden did a bad job,” he stated, adding that half of the emergency calls to FEMA had gone unanswered.
The Trump administration has already secured $54 million in aid for impacted North Carolinians, and Noem stated that 2,600 families who had been left out of FEMA’s process are now registered for relief. She emphasized that the administration is working to simplify assistance and get help to people faster.
FEMA’s missteps are not new, having faced criticism for its response to Hurricane Katrina and other disasters. Trump has signed an executive order to review FEMA’s structure, suggesting that future relief efforts could shift to a block grant system, allowing states to control funding. Noem stated, “You’ve heard him make comments that he might even want to end it and have it be a process where the federal government sends block grants or sends the dollars to the state or to the local communities, and they decide how it’s spent.”
FEMA has reported that 153,000 households have received assistance since Hurricane Helene, but Noem indicated that the administration’s goal is to make future relief efforts far more efficient. Discussions about FEMA’s future remain ongoing.
