Napolitano: Noem should answer how she’d protect FEMA from misinformation

Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Sunday that Kristi Noem, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), should be able to say how she plans to protect the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from misinformation.

Napolitano, in an interview on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” stressed that DHS encompasses agencies that go beyond dealing with border security and immigration, and said Noem should be ready to answer a wide array of questions at her confirmation hearing.

“I think she's asked some basic questions about what she understands about the Department of Homeland Security, and then how she would prioritize the many missions of the department. And then I'm sure she will get a lot of questions about immigration and border enforcement. That goes with the job, but so does FEMA,” said Napolitano, who served in former President Obama's first term.

“So how does she intend to protect FEMA from misinformation about claims that it's politicized the relief process, as we saw in North Carolina this past fall?”

When Hurricane Helene took a devastating toll on North Carolina in September, FEMA revamped its “rumor response” page to combat the flood of misinformation — particularly from those who said FEMA did not have the money to provide disaster assistance.

At the time, officials expressed concern that those false claims would dissuade people from getting the help they needed and was available to them.

Napolitano said she expects Noem to get questions on how she will protect the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, which, Napolitano said, “are many and varied, and have become almost ubiquitous.”

“How does she intend to relate to the White House? Will she exercise any independent judgment, or will she simply do what the president’s senior advisers tell her to do?” Napolitano continued.

Napolitano said Noem should be prepared to answer how she intends to manage such a massive department.

“The department is the size of almost 10 percent of her total state's population, and it's spread all over the country and in many foreign countries as well. What management skills or techniques does she intend to bring to bear as a Cabinet secretary?”