White House in chaos as they reverse Trump plan to 'eliminate' FEMA before storms hit

[riversedge]

Source: alternet



Matthew Rozsa May 31, 2026 | 10:34AM ET

President Donald Trump’s decision to gut America’s emergency disaster response organization has left the United States vulnerable to upcoming natural disasters — and now Trump is scrambling, likely too late, to fix his problem.

Describing the decision of his past Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, to withhold billions in money from FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), CNN’s Gabe Cohen reported that “Vice President JD Vance suggested it was FEMA’s inability to get money out the door that truly did her in. By the end of last year, FEMA was sitting on more than $15 billion in unspent funds, according to sources and internal figures reviewed by CNN. Lawmakers across the country, including many Republicans, were left fuming after months of asking for disaster money that had been awarded yet still awaited Noem’s signature.”

Cohen added that “during her 13 months running DHS, Noem, along with her de facto chief of staff Corey Lewandowski, waged war on FEMA, throttling operations, stalling payments, and driving out most of the senior leadership and by one count roughly 20% of the workforce. Amid the havoc, multiple sources told CNN the agency failed to make critical payments — from basic utilities to security operators that protect dangerous materials like anthrax.”

Realizing that America is now uniquely vulnerable because the upcoming summer will likely bring with it natural disasters from wildfires to tropical storms, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is reportedly working frantically to reverse many of the budget cuts and bureaucratic red tape that Noem had implemented.....

Read more: https://www.alternet.org/trump-fema-2676977598/

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Daily Beast: Trump’s admin is working to reverse the damage done to FEMA at Kristi Noem’s direction. “It could take a decade to fix what they broke,” per a high-ranking FEMA official. “And if we have a major disaster this year, we’re screwed.”
#VoteOutEveryRepublican #VoteBlue26

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[riversedge]

1. Daily Beast: Ice Barbie Fiasco Forces Trump Into Humiliating Reversal

Ice Barbie Fiasco Forces Trump Into Humiliating Reversal
CLEAN UP AISLE FEMA
It’s a race against the clock—and hurricane season—to fix what she broke.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kristi-noem-fema-fiasco-forces-trump-into-humiliating-reversal/

Laura Esposito

Updated May 31 2026 2:23PM EDT

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[slightlv]

2. This...

“It could take a decade to fix what they broke,”

will be echoed by every government department at some point from now on.

[displacedvermoter]

3. The next Democratic president elect will get less than a year

before diners in Fresno will be bitching that " nothing is getting done" and David Brooks will nod sagely.

[Bayard]

4. trump can't pretend he didn't know Noem was gutting the agency

One more disaster(s) that's all on him. He better lay in a big supply of paper towels.

[Karasu]

5. I mean, his regime gutted everything they could and then some. That was the entire purpose of DOGE.

[Tree Lady]

13. Who told her to screw up the agency?

I bet Trump himself or Elon. They both seemed to want to destroy every government agency we have.

[Bayard]

15. Especially anything that protects people

[AverageOldGuy]

6. Yes, but . . .

. . . Okay, so Noem destroyed FEMA so the agency cannot respond to past, present, or future disasters.

My church has a group that goes regulalry into the areas of Eastern NC that were devastated by Hurricane Helene -- I think that's the name -- that destroyed mountainous regions there -- swept away bridges, homes, whole small towns.

The guys in my church's team report that the people there are still MAGAts through and through in spite of the fact that Trump has killed FEMA. One member of my church team dropped out because he said he was through busting his ass to repair, rebuild, etc., all the while listening to local people piss and moan about Biden when, in fact, it's Trump to blame. A couple of others are about to quit for the same reason.

[Keepthesoulalive]

8. That is their identity

That is who they are and there is no message that will get through.

[oldsoldierfadingfast]

12. Heard similar here in SW VA n/t

[mwmisses4289]

7. She did it at ts direction. Remember, as far as he is concerned,

because he is prezi, all the money that treasury has, is his to do with as he pleases. And gods forbid he spends on any one but himself!

[Bluetus]

9. Noem was only part of the problem.

It was Trump, Musk, Miller and the Heritage people who pushed the plan of firing everybody indiscriminately.

And the worst part of the FEMA business had NOTHING to do with Noem. Trump sees every department, every budget, every employee as being at his disposal to punish his enemies. They made no secret of withholding relief funds from states that voted for Harris. And there is absolutely no reason to believe that Trump intends to change any of that.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. And the Republican majority in Congress let them do it

There should have been hearings, bills to stop it, and so on - and for things like FEMA cuts, a Republican majority would have done all that if a Democratic president had tried it, with rhetoric about "the heartland" and "real Americans" suffering. But they didn't dare criticize the Trump regime, and now they're hoping their voters are stupid enough to buy the "it was Biden's fault really" BS that a poster above has seen.

[paleotn]

10. DHS Barbie didn't do this on her own.

The regime is an extremely top down operation. This all came from Donnie. Noem simply ends up taking the blame for doing what she was told. A warning to all of Donnie's minions. They should have figured that out before they took those jobs so I have no sympathy for any of them.

[NBachers]

11. The bigger the mountain of money, the more that can be siphoned off.