NC Republican: FEMA needs to be overhauled, new director
North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards (R) hammered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during an interview, saying the agency needs to be overhauled and have a new director at its helm.
“Well, we continue to be frustrated with FEMA, their communication, their sensitivity, quite frankly, to those folks who have lost their homes, who are displaced because of the storm,” Edwards, whose district suffered devastating damage and flooding from Hurricane Helene four months ago, said during his Tuesday appearance on NewsNation’s show “The Hill.”
“That is an organization that clearly needs to be overhauled, and I'm anxious to be a part of that after January 20,” he told host Blake Burman.
Burman then asked the GOP lawmaker how he would modernize the government agency.
“First of all, we need we need a new director, a new administrator, and we've got to change the culture of FEMA,” Edwards said Tuesday. “There's too much government bureaucracy and not nearly enough caring about the folks that they should be tasked to help.”
The agency, tasked with assisting states and communities ravaged by disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Milton, has come under fire from some residents and lawmakers in late 2024 over its response in Florida and North Carolina.
The scrutiny intensified after one of its workers was fired for allegedly advising an assistance team in Florida to not visit homes that displayed signs favorable to President-elect Trump. FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell was called to Capitol Hill to testify. The incident also led to an internal audit from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph Cuffari which kicked off on Dec. 17.
FEMA also been under the microscope over its operation in California amid the ongoing wildfires that have displaced hundreds of thousands of residents.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) pressed the agency for reportedly denying assistance claims over lack of insurance information.
“I am hearing about frustrations with FEMA because they have done what we asked, which is to sign up on the disasterassistance.gov site, and then some of them have gotten denied approvals or non-approvals,” Chu, whose district has been damaged by the Eaton Fire, said on Tuesday.
Chu encouraged constituents to call FEMA directly if their claims are denied or to visit the new disaster resource center to “ask what is going on with their application.”
The Hill has reached out to the agency for comment.
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