Noem’s directive comes as she spends $200 million on private jets and allows federal agents to terrorize American citizens

As communities across the country navigate this week’s winter storm, new reporting revealed that extra red tape created by Trump’s DHS Secretary Kristi Noem — who has spent $200 million in taxpayer dollars on two private jets and continues to unleash federal agents on our streets — has led to a $17 billion bottleneck in disaster relief funding. To make matters worse, states are also still waiting for an additional $1.3 billion in FEMA funding to help communities build infrastructure to minimize future damage and save lives.

Without these critical funds, states hit hard by storms and disasters have been forced to pay for recovery efforts themselves. While 39 of 50 states have experienced natural disasters since Trump took office, the reporting found that Louisiana, Florida, and Texas have the most pending FEMA mitigation grants. One small community in Iowa had to take a $19 million dollar loan — far exceeding the city’s $10 million annual budget — to rebuild itself due to Noem’s bottleneck, and the $1,800 in daily interest the city is paying is not eligible for FEMA reimbursement.

These additional costs come as states across the country are already squeezing their budgets in order to pay for the costs of Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, which passed on part of the cost of programs like SNAP onto state budgets.

In response, DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman released the following statement: 

“Kristi Noem has made her priorities clear: spending $200 million of taxpayer dollars on private jets and deploying federal agents to terrorize communities and incite violence, while holding up life-saving disaster relief for communities hit hardest by natural disasters. When communities in need are hit by deadly flooding, storms, and other disasters, they should not be hung out to dry by the agency designed to help us save lives and rebuild.”

Read more below:

New York Times: Extra Scrutiny of FEMA Aid to States Has Created a $17 Billion Bottleneck

By Scott Dance

• About $17 billion in federal disaster funds for states is getting an extra layer of review by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, causing unusual delays in payments, according to internal Federal Emergency Management Agency documents reviewed by The New York Times.

• Ms. Noem’s directive has extended the final processing of large projects, a stage that normally takes a few weeks, by months, causing the backlog to balloon, according to three FEMA employees familiar with the process who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. 

• FEMA has barred staff from discussing review timelines with state officials who ask about the status of aid, the employees said.

• In many cases, state and local governments have already completed relief and recovery work at their own expense, often under significant budget constraints, based on a pledge from FEMA to reimburse a share of the costs. 

• In other instances, work cannot begin until Ms. Noem allows the money to flow.

• The funding delays have left some disaster-struck communities with little certainty of when or whether help might come.

• In June 2024, huge floods damaged or destroyed 500 homes in Rock Valley, Iowa, in the northwest corner of the state. City officials have been waiting for Ms. Noem to approve $3.4 million in FEMA reimbursements to cover replacement vehicles, temporary leases for the town library and a maintenance facility, as well as emergency efforts taken at the height of the floods, said Tom Van Maanen, the city administrator. 

• Rock Valley’s annual budget is typically less than $10 million, so the city has had to borrow $19 million to make ends meet, at a cost of $1,800 in daily interest that is not eligible for FEMA reimbursement, he said.

• The states with the most in pending mitigation grants are Louisiana, Florida and Texas, the documents show.

• Separately, the Trump administration has cut off another grant program designed to help communities better prepare for disasters.

• Representative Troy A. Carter Sr., a Louisiana Democrat, said that until those improvements were made, flood damage would continue to mount.

• “It defies logic,” Mr. Carter said. By not funding the projects, he said, “you’ve blown an opportunity to lessen the effect of the next weather event.”

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