A Republican senator has lashed out at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for introducing what he says is an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that is slowing down the release of hurricane relief funds to his state.
North Carolina’s Ted Budd has vowed to vote against all future DHS nominees unless the issue is resolved. At the center of the dispute is a policy from Noem—dubbed “ICE Barbie” for her love of cosplaying photo shoots—who requires her personal approval for any Federal Emergency Management Agency contract or grant exceeding $100,000.
Budd, whose state was devastated by Hurricane Helene in September 2024, said in a statement that he is “deeply concerned” by the slow approval and distribution of funding as North Carolina works to recover from the natural disaster.
The senator was the only Republican to join Democrats in trying to block Robert Law from becoming undersecretary for strategy, policy, and plans at DHS, and warned he will use his vote to attempt to stall other nominees.
“We’ve let leadership know we’re going to place holds on all DHS nominees until we get an appropriate dialogue and response on the outstanding invoices that have not been paid to western North Carolina from FEMA,” Budd told CNN.
“So, it’s been very slow. But going back to December is when we appropriated the money, when we voted for the money and approved it there. But now here we are, nine months later, we still haven’t seen the reimbursements.”
The bottleneck stems from Noem’s policy requiring her personal approval for FEMA expenses of $100,000 or more as part of cost-cutting measures. She was criticized in July for delaying federal aid to parts of Texas devastated by flash floods that left about 135 people dead after waiting three days to personally authorize the deployment of Urban Search and Rescue teams.
Budd questioned why Noem needs to sign off on such contracts when federal responses to natural disasters can soar into the billions.
“I know that in each county, every item almost is over $100,000. That’s every single thing that runs through a rather significant agency. I just don’t think that’s the way you navigate this,” Budd told CNN.
“I think there are very competent, even Senate-approved people that can share the load and approve things,” he added. “Choke holding this thing or stonewalling states that are hurt by hurricanes is not the way to get rid of waste fraud and abuse.”
Noem denied that her policies caused delays in disaster response in an August statement. “Change is hard. It is especially hard for those invested in the status quo, who have forgotten that their duty is to the American people—not entrenched bureaucracy,” she said.
“I refuse to accept that FEMA red tape should stand between an American citizen suffering and the aid they desperately need.”
The Daily Beast has contacted DHS for comment.
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