Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Tuesday called on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to resign over her response to the catastrophic flooding in Texas that caused a triple-digit death toll.
In an interview on “CNN News Central,” Markey pointed to reporting suggesting the deployment of resources to Texas was delayed because of Noem’s new rule requiring her personal sign-off on all Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contracts or grants worth more than $100,000.
Because of that rule, according to the reports, FEMA was slow to deploy search-and-rescue teams to the region. Other reporting indicated agency call centers were not adequately staffed.
“We’ve seen all of the evidence with regard to Kristi Noem not responding quick enough. She should resign. What she did in response to the Texas floods is an absolute disgrace,” Markey said in the interview.
“She did not get the relief there fast enough. She did not have the phone answering capacity in place quick enough to hear people be able to call in with all of their problems. Only 16% of the calls were being answered by FEMA three days after that flood began. They have an absolute crisis on their hands right now,” he continued.
Noem has forcefully pushed back against reporting about delays, calling it “fake news” and insisting that the agency was prompt in responding to the emergency.
“Within just an hour or two after the flooding, we had resources from the Department of Homeland Security there, helping those individuals in Texas. It was a heartbreaking scene,” Noem told NBC News’s Kristen Welker in an interview on Sunday. “And I think it’s been well covered about what the Coast Guard did, how they were deployed immediately and helped rescue so many individuals from those floodwaters. And we had Border Patrol down there with their tactical teams, and FEMA was there just within a few hours as well.”
“So those claims are false,” Noem continued. “They’re from people who won’t put their name behind those claims. And those call centers were fully staffed and responsive. And this is the fastest, I believe, in years, maybe decades, that FEMA has been deployed to help individuals in this type of situation.”
The Hill has reached out to DHS for comment.
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