GOP INCOMPETENCE
Published
40 minutes ago
on
June 26, 2025
In a new op-ed, Democratic Reps. Rick Larsen of Washington and Greg Stanton of Arizona draw parallels to the Trump administration’s cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, better known as FEMA, and the lead-up to the devastation caused by 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
The Hill published the representatives’ op-ed on Thursday. They warn that hurricane season is coming and FEMA is in “disarray,” pointing out that President Donald Trump has called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to dismantle FEMA by the end of the year.
“It’s eerily reminiscent of the summer of 2005, when hasty organizational changes, brain drain and unqualified leadership plagued FEMA in the lead up to its catastrophic response to Hurricane Katrina. The images we saw along the Gulf Coast then shocked the nation, and communities are still recovering to this day,” Larsen and Stanton wrote. “As we approach the 20-year anniversary of that catastrophe, this administration seems dead set on repeating history’s mistakes.”
READ MORE: No Trump, No FEMA? Tornado Ravaged City’s Mayor Pleads for Federal Assistance
The representatives pointed out that the Department of Government Efficiency got rid of 2,000 FEMA workers. The White House had also been approving and denying requests for disaster relief funds without informing FEMA, according to CNN, causing delays.
“As Trump hobbles FEMA’s disaster preparation, he’s also playing politics with federal funding for recovery. So far, almost every approved disaster declaration has been for Republican-led states, while requests from Democratic governors — including Washington — remain pending or have been denied outright. Even conservatives have had to grovel to Trump for federal assistance,” the representatives wrote.
Larsen and Stanton are referring to actions like Trump’s desire to tie California’s disaster relief to the passage of a voter ID law. Another example is when Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary, had to publically beg Trump to reverse his decision to deny aid after tornadoes hit the state.
During Trump’s second term, the United States’ disaster response record has not been great. During his January tour of parts of North Carolina damaged by Hurricane Helena, he called FEMA “not good.”
“FEMA turned out to be a a disaster. And you could go back a long way, you could go back to Louisiana, you could go back to some of the things that took place in Texas. And it turns out to be the state that ends up doing the work. It just complicates it. I think we’re gonna recommend that FEMA go away. And we pay directly and we pay a percentage to the state, but the state should fix it,” Trump said at the time.
And in May, when tornadoes hit states including Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri Mayor Cara Spencer said that FEMA was completely absent, despite the devastation.
“FEMA has not been on the ground—we do not have confirmed assistance from FEMA at this point,” Spencer said. “I do want to say, however, every other level of government has been on the ground with us, helping in every capacity possible. But when you have a disaster of this scale, eight miles of just pure destruction, this tornado didn’t just touch down and leave, this tornado ripped through our community for a full eight miles in the city of St. Louis, and this is an area that has needed help, that we need investment, you know, our North St. Louis has been neglected for a long time, and we need the help of our partners here.”
At the time, Noem said that she’d spoken to the governors of those states and offered resources. But she also said the feds would defer to local governments.
“We discussed how while emergency management is best led by local authorities, we reinforced that DHS stands ready to take immediate action to offer resources and support,” Noem wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Local emergency managers should swiftly notify people in the affected areas to take action to protect themselves and their belongings. DHS stands ready to help when a state needs, requests, and declares an emergency.”
Image via Reuters