President Donald Trump continues to call for the abolition of the Federal Emergency Management Administration. During a trip to North Carolina in January, Trump suggested eliminating FEMA. On Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his calls to get rid of FEMA, posting on his Truth Social social media site, "FEMA should be terminated."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA, is on record as backing the idea.
If FEMA is eliminated, would state governments be ready to pick up the slack?
"No. I don't think there's agreement that that could happen," Jefferson Parish President Jefferson Cynthia Lee Sheng said. "I don't think our group at the National Association of Counties would advocate for it all going to the states just because . . . it would be quicker, yes, but the state's don't have the capacity to do that."
Sheng is the co-chair of a National Association of Counties task force that's working on recommendations to modernize FEMA and to update disaster policies. She says the federal government needs to be involved in disaster response in some way, shape, or form.
"You need capacity beforehand. You need trained people beforehand working these events," Sheng said, noting that state governments don't have the resources that the federal government has to help victims. "When (a disaster) happens, they're overwhelmed, too. Just like we're overwhelmed at the local government, the state is overwhelmed."
While Sheng says state governments have qualified people that can help with disaster relief, local and state goverments need FEMA's resources both before and after a disaster happens.
"We need real expertise on that front, real scientific data on that front, especially pre-disaster," Sheng said. "We clearly see now, and it's very clear, that our disaster recovery as we handle it in the United States is not up to the task of what Mother Nature is sending us."
Related
