President Donald Trump visited Texas Friday to assess the damage of last week’s floods that have killed more than 120 people and left around 160 more missing.
The visit comes as local officials are expressing concern that cost controls are slowing down the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response time.
It comes as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the agency, placed rules saying the agency can’t spend more than $100,000 without her personal approval despite natural disasters potentially causing damage in the millions. It’s part of the Trump administration’s push to cut government spending and improve efficiency.
“Federal emergency management should be state and locally led rather than how it has operated for decades,” Noem said about the changes.
Several Democratic lawmakers are now pushing back. They believe recent changes make it harder for states to act in the wake of natural disasters.
“They’ve gotten rid of 30 percent of the workforce. Everything over $100,000 has to go to her personal sign off,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.). “Does that sound efficient?”
Moskowitz, who ran Florida’s emergency management agency prior to running for Congress, is concerned for what the aftermath of this year’s hurricane season will look like under the Trump administration.
“Kristi Noem took an agency that needed reform and instead dropped the ball and destroyed it,” he said.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) agrees that FEMA needs changes. He’s sponsoring legislation that would address efficiency issues and cut red tape.
“We have to reform FEMA. The long-term recovery, whether it’s Vermont or the tragedy in Texas, is too bureaucratic, is too slow, it’s too centralized in Washington,” he said. “And my initiative would be to provide much more flexibility to the local officials, give them decision making authority, give them access to the money as soon as possible.”
The bill has support from several local leaders in Vermont, Texas and North Carolina, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Welch, however, said it’s been tough getting bipartisan support in the Senate since many Republicans aren’t eager to challenge Noem’s new rules.
Story Written by Ashonti Ford and Max Cotton, Gray DC