(The Center Square) – North Carolinians and other Atlantic Basin states got another strong suggestion Tuesday the days of FEMA are numbered.
Just ahead of the 38th week of recovery from Hurricane Helene beginning for western North Carolina, President Donald Trump in an Oval Office briefing with Cabinet heads said again – as he did in January in Buncombe County on his first domestic trip this term – it is time “to wean off of FEMA.” He said bringing it to the state level, akin to the plans for the U.S. Department of Education, is the goal following the 2025 hurricane season.
The season began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.
“We’re moving it back to the states so the governors can handle it,” Trump said. “If they can’t handle it, they shouldn’t be governor, but these governors can handle it, and they’ll work in conjunction with other governors.”
Helene killed 107 in the Tarheel State, 236 across seven states, and caused an estimated $60 billion in damage to North Carolina.
“You saw what happened in North Carolina under the past administration, and when we got in, we did a great job for North Carolina, brought it back,” the second-term Republican said. “But it was a disaster, FEMA, and it has not worked out well.”
Secretary Kristi Noem, former governor of South Dakota, leads the administration’s Department of Homeland Security that houses the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She agreed while also professing that even now as called upon, FEMA does work that is needed and appreciated.
The operation, however, is a red-tape nightmare for victims. Evidence of waste and fraud are common for many natural disasters, the work of a state audit released last week – $220 loads of laundry – just one glaring example.
“We all know from the past that FEMA has failed thousands, if not millions, of people, and President Trump does not want to see that continue into the future,” she said. “So, this agency fundamentally needs to go away as it exists.”
The Oval Office gathering was a briefing on the 2025 hurricane and wildfire seasons. Southern California earlier this year was ravaged by wildfires. The flames killed at least 30, forced nearly a quarter-million people to evacuate, and caused an estimated $52 billion to $164 billion in property and capital damages.
FEMA was created in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. The Stafford Act of 37 years ago set up some of the guardrails still used today, and Homeland Security was established by President George W. Bush 22 years ago in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Congressional action is necessary to dissolve the agencies and amend the Stafford Act.
Gov. Josh Stein said cutting FEMA or the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration would be “man-made disasters.” Yet, his friend and political advocate created a government assistance program that failed so miserably Stein didn’t continue it and instead created another.
Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018) struck southeastern North Carolina, and then-Gov. Roy Cooper created the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency. Last fall, the budget deficit faced by the department, also known as RebuildNC, was found to be more than $265 million; projects for only 2,800 of 4,200 families have been completed since two major hurricanes eight and six years earlier, respectively; and the agency owed $37 million for completed projects.
Laura Hogshead, according to the Office of the State Controller salary database, drew an annual salary of $155,213. She was Cooper’s leader of the agency and ultimately resigned in November.
Stein created the Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, also known as GROW NC. He made appointments of Matt Calabria, director; Emily Williamson Gangi, chief deputy director; and Eliza Edwards, director of community partnerships. In the Commerce Department, Stephanie McGarrah will be deputy secretary of Community Revitalization. Holly Jones is director in Stein’s western North Carolina office, and Jonathan Krebs is a recovery advisor to the governor.
Trump made North Carolina his first visit on the Friday after Inauguration Day. On the way, the chatter aboard Air Force One escalated into an announcement on the ground – and executive order – that an advisory council on FEMA would be created to include U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., Tim Moore, R-N.C., and Chuck Edwards, R-N.C. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, former leader of the state’s GOP, was named its chairman.
Twenty weeks later, there’s no fruit to speak of in council activity. The latest is an April 28 announcement from Homeland Security listing new members, with Noem and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as cochairmen and Whatley the only tie to North Carolina.
