Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Monday during a televised Cabinet meeting that she planned to “eliminate” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but didn’t clarify further.
The remark from Noem came while she delivered a status report on border security, before closing by saying “we’re going to eliminate FEMA” without offering any other comment.
“That’s great. Great job,” President Trump said in response.
FEMA is one of the several agencies that President Trump has been critical of in the past year, suggesting in January that he may even cut it.
“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I think, frankly, FEMA’s not good,” Trump said in January.
Trump recently signed an executive order that called for a review of disaster response policies. The order requests that Noem propose changes and ensure “state and local governments and individuals have improved communications with Federal officials and a better understanding of the Federal role.”
FEMA is responsible for responding in the immediate aftermath of disasters, most notably storms and other natural disasters. The agency also assists with longer-term recovery efforts.
Despite not sharing too much information on how she would go about cutting the agency, Noem has received pushback from Democrats.
“The Trump Administration’s grand plan for victims of natural disasters is to abandon them—and it’s a complete non-starter,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) said in a statement. “This rash decision will harm ongoing disaster recovery efforts, and make it impossible to respond after the next natural disaster.”
FEMA was first created during the Carter administration as a means to centralize the government’s disaster response. Since 2003 it has been a part of the Department of Homeland Security.