So far, President Trump’s message to states in crisis after catastrophic natural disasters has been “you’re on your own.”
Last month, he reduced federal aid to Hurricane Helene-stricken parts of North Carolina. In April, he denied aid to tornado survivors in Arkansas as they tried to recover from severe storms that killed 40 people.
Imagine the tragic toll of death and destruction if fire departments across the U.S. were sharply downsized or even closed in the name of efficiency. Unfortunately, we could see a similarly horrific outcome as the result of Trump administration actions that have shrunk the Federal Emergency Management Agency and might even abolish it.
FEMA has been helping states deal with the devastating impacts of catastrophic natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires and floods since it was created in 1979. But federal aid to places hard-hit by disasters dates to 1803, when Congress recognized the federal responsibility to respond to emergencies too severe for states to handle on their own.
Trump has threatened to abolish FEMA — something that could legally happen only with congressional approval. In January, he said he would “begin the process of reforming FEMA or getting rid of FEMA,” arguing that it would be better for states to deal with disasters on their own, with the federal government paying for some of their expenses.
But Trump wants to use federal money as a weapon. Trump has repeatedly acted or threatened to act to cut off assistance to states, local governments and universities if they don’t follow his policies. So state officials could never be sure if he would reimburse their disaster spending or how large the reimbursement would be.
We know Trump’s team won’t trust the experts. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees FEMA, testified before a congressional committee in May that “FEMA as it exists today should be eliminated.”
The next day, FEMA acting Director Cameron Hamilton took the opposite position, telling the committee: “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
He was forced out of his job a day later.
Trump may try to bypass Congress to cut FEMA. He has already allowed it to get dangerously smaller. The agency has lost about 2,000 full-time employees — about a third of its staff — as a result of firings and resignations of employees taking buyouts pushed by Elon Musk to supposedly make the government more efficient.
But rather than make FEMA more efficient, big cuts to its workforce, including the loss of 16 senior executives, have weakened FEMA.
Trump might decide to shrink the agency even further with more job cuts, effectively rendering it unable to carry out its duties, as he has done with the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies. This would enable him to justify abolishing a crippled FEMA.
Effective disaster response is a labor-intensive task requiring skilled and courageous men and women working in dangerous conditions. It can’t be accomplished by AI or by clever computer programmers sitting comfortably at desks far away.
This hit home for me two decades ago. Federal and state officials deployed almost 5,900 FEMA employees, more than 30,000 National Guard troops, nearly 13,000 active-duty military troops and others — including state employees and many thousands of volunteers — to respond to Hurricane Katrina in my home state of Louisiana and nearby states in 2005.
Tragically, Katrina killed about 1,800 people and caused $170 billion in property damage. The federal response was far too slow, but the toll of the disaster would have been even worse if the number of people responding to Katrina had been reduced by one-third.
The recovery from Katrina showed me how important FEMA can be. Members of my extended family in Louisiana were left homeless by the hurricane and evacuated to cities across America.
When it was time for them to return home, FEMA was there with essential supplies and assistance to help them start rebuilding. This was life-changing, but Trump’s plan would leave the next struggling family on their own.
FEMA has been largely revamped since Katrina. But as extreme weather gets more frequent and more destructive, it needs more investment.
FEMA must be returned to its previous size and preferably expanded. And it needs competent and experienced leadership. Trump’s purge of FEMA officials has served as a brain drain that has reduced the agency’s effectiveness.
Trump appointed David Richardson, who has no experience in disaster management, as acting director of FEMA in May. Richardson surprised his staff by telling them he was not aware the nation had a hurricane season — a remark a Department of Homeland Security official later claimed was a joke.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts that 13 to 19 named storms will strike during the period. Serious hurricanes are increasing due to climate change, NOAA reports.
Meanwhile, as of June 4, the National Weather Service reported that 1,047 tornadoes have struck in the U.S. this year. AccuWeather forecasts that 1,300 to 1,450 will hit by the end of the year, above the historic average of 1,225.
It is impractical for the federal government to hand off more responsibility for disaster response to states. Although there are disasters every year somewhere in the U.S., there are not necessarily disasters every year in every state.
FEMA is in a better position than individual states to respond rapidly with skilled and experienced professionals wherever and whenever a natural disaster strikes and to coordinate action by multiple states when a disaster crosses state lines.
We need a national response to defend America from natural disasters in the same way we need a national response when we defend America militarily. That’s why we have a national armed forces, rather than a separate Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Space Force in every state.
America needs a fully staffed and well-led FEMA. Sadly, we are not getting this today.
Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC News and former chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the author of “Hacks: Inside the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.”
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