Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is refusing to take responsibility after a report found that she personally instituted a rule that created obstacles in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to the deadly floods in Texas over the July 4 weekend.
Per a Thursday CNN report citing four FEMA officials, Noem recently enacted a requirement that DHS expenditures exceeding $100,000 be signed off by her office. As a result, the agency was unable to deploy proactive Urban Search and Rescue squads near anticipated areas of flooding, as it usually would. While state rescue teams sprang into action, “FEMA officials realized they needed Noem’s approval before sending those additional assets”—and they didn’t receive it until Monday, at which point floodwaters had been raging for over 72 hours.
Texas’s request for aerial imagery to help with search and rescue efforts was also “delayed as it awaited Noem’s approval for the necessary contract,” and, at a FEMA-manned disaster call center, “callers have faced longer wait times as the agency awaited Noem’s approval for a contract to bring in additional support staff.”
It’s a damning report describing a policy one former Customs and Border Protection official called “absolutely nuts,” according to Federal News Network.
Noem dismissed the report out of hand during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox and Friends, even laughing when co-host Griff Jenkins brought it up, before fixating on the outlet that published it rather than the direct line FEMA officials drew between her policy and delays in the disaster response.
“Well there you go. Fake news,” Noem said. “CNN, again, is absolutely trash, what they are doing by saying that. Because our Coast Guard, our Border Patrol, [Border Patrol Tactical Unit] teams were there immediately. Every single thing … they asked for, we were there.”
Noem continued, “The fact that CNN is continuing to be political and push out fake information and false information and lies is not shocking, but it’s a disservice to the country. It’s a real disservice to the country because people start to mistrust anything that comes out, then, over the news.”
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