Kristi Noem speaks during the Super Bowl LIX Public Safety Press Conference at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on Feb. 3, 2025m in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday she'd encourage President Trump to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency "as it exists today." The big picture: The president has said he's considered "getting rid of" FEMA entirely, an agency that many in the GOP have accused of bias and that Trump has blasted for its response to...

CNN's Dana Bash pressed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) having access to sensitive information about disaster victims. " that Musk and his DOGE team have access to , which includes personal information about tens of thousands of disaster victims," Bash began. "Have you authorized Elon Musk and his team to have access to Americans' personal data that is housed inside DHS?" Noem answered that she was working with DOGE and asked Congress for the authority to reprogram funds, when Bash interrupted, "But that's...

As President Donald Trump considers an overhaul of the nation’s disaster response efforts, one Louisiana official is poised to have an influential voice in the debate over potential reforms. Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng was tapped in November by the National Association of Counties to co-chair a task force charged with coming up with recommendations to modernize federal disaster policies. On Tuesday, she traveled to Washington, D.C., for the group's first in-person meeting. In an interview Monday, Lee Sheng said she agrees with Trump that the current method for...

DAMASCUS, Va. – Vice President JD Vance on Monday traveled to Damascus, Virginia, a town on the southwestern edge of the state that was hit hard by Hurricane Helene in September. The visit was Vance’s second time to Damascus and his first official trip as vice president, coming just days after President Donald Trump traveled to western North Carolina on Jan. 24 to tour areas still struggling to recover after the hurricane. "The local government's working, the state government is working as hard as it can, the local communities and...

Vice President JD Vance slammed FEMA for incompetence Monday in Damascus, Virginia, a town near the Tennessee border which was devastated by Hurricane Helene. Vance, standing alongside Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., told the press, “Unfortunately, while actually the people have done an incredible job of rebuilding this community, they have not had a federal government that’s truly been on their side.” In Vance’s view, the devastation in the region surrounding Damascus has not been sufficiently addressed by federal bureaucrats who have refused to distribute funds already earmarked by Congress.

While a task force assesses the need for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, President Donald Trump signed an executive order giving FEMA and other federal agencies authority to override California state laws and federal statutes in providing relief amid the Los Angeles wildfires. First and foremost, the order refers to California's complex water management operations. The order, dated Friday, came after Trump traveled to Los Angeles to see the devastation from wildfires that have been raging for weeks, The New York Times reported. One section of the order is titled...

President Donald Trump issued an executive order giving the federal government more control over California’s water management after sparring with Democrats, who he said have slow-walked Los Angeles’s recovery efforts. The order gives the Federal Emergency Management Agency and half a dozen agencies authority to override California state laws and federal statutes to provide relief amid the Los Angeles wildfires. In the latest escalation of Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) water wars, Trump threatened to withhold federal disaster aid in an effort to pressure the state to adopt an...

The Trump administration is looking at ways to overhaul FEMA, the government's disaster management and response agency. Why it matters: The move — which President Trump has said could include dissolving the agency altogether — comes amid continued response efforts in the wake of September's Hurricane Helene and the deadly LA area wildfires this month. Zoom in: The White House issued an executive order on the topic Sunday evening, and Vice President Vance criticized FEMA's work in an appearance on CBS' "Face The Nation" Sunday. • Late last week, Trump...