At a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) questioned Sec. Kristi Noem about FEMA criticisms.
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00:00Thank you, Madam Ranking Member. The floor is now belongs to the gentlelady from Connecticut, the Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee, who got here as quick as she could. Thank you, and the floor is yours.
00:13Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. My God, this is twice in one day here, so it's great to see you. We're hearing hopping here.
00:21So thank you so much, and I want to thank the Ranking Member Underwood for holding the hearing today, and welcome to you, Madam Secretary, and thank you for appearing before the subcommittee today.
00:34I just want to begin with a message to your workforce, if I might, and that's I'm grateful, very grateful for the work that they do, from search and rescue efforts of the Coast Guard to our first responders around the ground after natural disasters to those keeping us safe in the air and on the ground and at sea.
00:52I want to start with some big picture questions, because I think we know very little of the details about where the $646 million cuts within FEMA's grant programs will come from.
01:10It is no secret that there are numerous reports of you, if we need to correct the record, stating that you want to, quote, eliminate FEMA within the Department of Homeland Security.
01:26I'm concerned about the direction that the administration is taking with regard to FEMA, canceling programs like BRIC, a program enacted into law by President Trump in his first term,
01:40without any evidence of waste, without any evidence of waste, fraud, and abuse, alongside the freezing of grants, and now, 2026 budget requests targeting even more of FEMA's resources.
01:52And just right now, in terms of looking at the cancellations, the science and technology directors, centers of excellence and office of university programs,
02:10as I mentioned, the FEMA-administered grant programs frozen virtually all grant obligations pending a review as it determines whether it will try to choke off funding for unacceptable political reasons,
02:29resources for states and communities to respond to disasters, secure firefighting equipment, protect against terrorism, secure our ports, and much more is being held up.
02:39And as I mentioned, the cancellation of the BRIC program, funding to support hazard mitigation, reduce the toll of future disasters, save lives.
02:49That money is not going out.
02:50Research has shown mitigation efforts like BRIC save a minimum of $6 for every dollar invested, and save more than double when including mitigation of economic impacts.
03:00So, federal disaster relief should be readily available across the United States, regardless of where you live.
03:11Natural disasters happen everywhere.
03:14They should not be concerned about the federal government turning their back on them when they need the help the most.
03:19We need to give constituents what they need when they're facing tragedy, that they will not be stranded due to political discord.
03:26My ask of you is, what is your plan with regard to FEMA?
03:31Are you planning to eliminate FEMA?
03:33Your testimony references that you want to, quote, eliminate dysfunction of the current agency.
03:40I'm unclear.
03:41I don't know if my colleagues are clear on what you mean by dysfunction.
03:44And I'm concerned that you're causing more dysfunction within the workforce that should be preparing itself for the pending hurricane season.
03:52Well, thank you for your question and the discussion on this topic today.
03:57President Trump has been very clear since the beginning that he believes that FEMA and its response in many, many circumstances has failed the American people.
04:06And that FEMA, as it exists today, should be eliminated in empowering states to respond to disasters with federal government support.
04:13And you'll just, with all due respect, where is the evidence of the failure of FEMA?
04:20I don't know about everybody else on this.
04:23My state, Connecticut, was hit very, very hard with a superstorm, Sandy.
04:31Every community in some way or another has been hit by that.
04:35And FEMA on the ground, people come in, work with the families, deal with getting the funding out.
04:41But where is the evidence of the failure of FEMA?
04:45Congresswoman, we still have claims open from Hurricane Katrina.
04:49We have fire claims that are still unpaid to people who said they were due them 7 to 8 to 10 years old.
04:56They have never been paid by FEMA.
04:58So one of the worst things that the federal government can do is to stand up in front of the American public and say,
05:03we will be there, we will walk alongside you in the most horrible time of your life, and then never follow through on it.
05:09What the president has said is he's sick and tired of federal agencies that pick and choose who wins and who loses.
05:14He wants to make sure that the federal government's commitment, when it makes a commitment, that it follows through.
05:20So he's going to empower states.
05:21The federal government is abdicating its commitment to the American people who find themselves.
05:25It did, certainly under Joe Biden's administration.
05:27Now President Trump's going to make sure the communities are ready for disasters.
05:29Let me just say this to you.
05:30The Office of Professional Responsibility.
05:32The Office of Professional, because I knew you were going to go there.
05:36As you know, FEMA's Office of Professional Responsibility.
05:39Under the Biden administration, there was no evidence, no direction or agency or field leadership to discriminate against disaster victims based on political affiliation, which was a charge.
05:49I'll follow up with you.
05:50Well, and I will follow up.
05:51I will follow up.
05:52And I'll follow up with my colleagues, quite frankly, and to really listen to people whose states and communities have been devastated and what role FEMA has played.
06:05I don't know how many millions and millions of dollars went out in Louisiana.
06:09Actually, I've asked my staff to calculate that when Katrina hit.
06:14And the response was overwhelming.
06:16And the response has been overwhelming.
06:19If you want to make corrections, that's fine.
06:22We all agree with that.
06:24Yeah, we can point to thousands and thousands of air instances where-
06:27Well, let's-
06:28If you wouldn't mind getting this committee-
06:30If you wouldn't mind getting this committee, the information and the evidence where you talk about the dysfunction of the agency
06:38and where it has really failed, that would be important to those of us who are, you know, are appropriating dollars.
06:46And it would appear that the administration overall has a way in which they're looking at dismantling the federal government.
06:53The states will never have the amount of money because the federal government isn't going to pass that money to the states to be able to deal with what happens.
07:03It's when the federal government comes in and be able to give a hand to do that.
07:07And I think it's very clear from what you said that both yourself and the president really want to dismantle the federal government
07:14and the agencies that have provided service to the American people for decades.
07:19I thank the chair for your time and yield back.