One of the federal agencies that could face serious reform under the new Trump administration is the Federal Emergency Management Agency. We’re giving about $33 billion of our tax dollars to FEMA this year. It’s often plagued by controversy and there have been multiple efforts to reform FEMA. But when Hurricane Helene struck last fall, the aftermath exposed an agency where a surprising political bias permeates, and the mission of “equity” officially outranks disaster relief.
The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.
Michael Smith runs a small business in Georgia with five employees.
Michael Smith: I mean, done 40 houses since the storm, just putting tarps on nothing else. He worked nonstop after Helene hit.
Michael Smith: Well they said at one time in Coffee County, where I’m from, that they was 19 tornadoes down on the dirt at one time.
Homeowner: So we remained in our home, but we got teenagers in our home. They were scared to death.
You’ve probably seen a lot of the devastation in North Carolina— but Helene also roared through Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, and right here in Georgia.
Joe Harvey: You’d open the doors with that wind blowing that hard, and it was really scary. So I shut the door back.
Sharyl: Do you think it was a tornado or the hurricane winds?
Harvey: Don’t know. And all this stuff you see is stuff we’re moving out of the attic now.
Michael-Angelo James is Mayor of Waycross, Georgia. We spoke with him on our visit, three weeks after Helene hit.
Sharyl: You have seen FEMA, they have offered some help and done some work. Can you just elaborate on that a little bit?
Michael-Angelo James: Well, one of the things they’ve done is provided numbers for us to call just in case there’s disaster assistance needed. That’s one. And then on the other side of that, they’ve allowed for us to have interactions with them so that we would know boots on the ground kind of things that would be taking place.
The aftermath of Helene has stoked longstanding controversies about the role of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Jim Blackburn is Battalion Chief with the Waycross, Georgia Fire Department.
Jim Blackburn: The Georgia Emergency Management Agency has been here since before the hurricane even hit. And I haven’t personally seen any FEMA people, but I’m assuming FEMA’s here and helping people.
Sharyl: Okay. But you’re the battalion chief and you haven’t personally talked to any FEMA people?
Blackburn: I have not talked to any FEMA people.
At the center of the debate is FEMA’s effectiveness and relevance. And a question of whether the locals should lead disaster relief efforts instead of the federal government.
After Helene struck, images flooded the news and the Internet showing non-government volunteers airlifting supplies; climbing treacherous terrain in Tennessee; delivering aid in North Carolina by mule, and goats and stepping up to deliver food, water, and baby items.
FEMA found itself fighting rumors that it was seldom seen and offering people who’d lost everything $750.
FEMA employee (FEMA video): But there are other forms you may qualify for after you apply for disaster assistance, you can receive things like temporary housing or home repair costs.
FEMA was created 46 years ago under President Jimmy Carter to centralize the nation’s disaster relief efforts. Four years after FEMA’s inception, the Government Accountability Office or GAO reported the agency didn’t have enough staff, and had difficulties defining its mission, goals, and objectives.
In 1992, after Hurricane Andrew, the GAO said FEMA’s strategy for dealing with catastrophic disasters was inadequate.
After Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Sandy in 2012, the GAO criticized FEMA’s response and Congress passed laws to reform FEMA.
And more recently, added responsibilities “sheltering” illegal immigrants and with Covid relief and have left FEMA critically short staffed with burned out employees, according to GAO.
In 2020, FEMA’s disaster workforce lost 20 percent of its staff. GAO reported that FEMA “faced challenges deploying staff with the right qualifications and skills at the right times.” In 2022, GAO says FEMA was stretched handling 444,000 applications for Covid funeral assistance, and using processes that opened the door to fraud.
Amid the criticism, FEMA listed some surprising priorities in its 2025 budget request for more than $33 billion. It lists “equity” and “climate resilience” as top goals, ahead of the core mission of coordinating and delivering “Federal assistance”.
Mike Smith is a longtime meteorologist and weather reporter who has studied FEMA.
Mike Smith: There are a number of whistleblowers from FEMA who have said that DEI is overwhelming the culture at FEMA to the extent that it’s really causing issues with helping the people who have been suffering from disasters.
In November, more scandal when a FEMA manager got caught instructing Helene relief workers to avoid helping Trump supporters. She got fired after the publicity but later indicated political discrimination is standard at the agency, for worker safety.
Interviewer (Fox News): So you feared the Trump houses? The people at FEMA fear the Trump houses like they were fearing people with vicious dogs in their backyard?
FEMA employee: Exactly. And that’s based on the trends.
At a recent hearing, the head of FEMA, Deanne Criswell, addressed the controversy.
Deanne Criswell (November 19): So immediately upon the termination of the employee that made this direction, I sent out an email to the workforce, letting them know what is expected of them, and that we serve all people. I have been in this job for three and a half years, and my focus has always been on putting people first, and that’s all people.
Mike Smith: If I were President Trump and had to make that decision, I would probably downscale FEMA a great deal. So I think a FEMA as a coordinating agency after a major disaster, such as a tsunami or a major tornado, or a hurricane or a giant wildfire like the one in Maui makes some sense, but the FEMA on the ground model that they have now doesn’t seem to be working.
As for the question of FEMA’s ultimate role, the locals in Waycross Georgia still see a place for the federal government.
Sharyl: Do you think in the end this is a local community responsibility and effort that it comes down to? Or do you think there’s a very important role the feds have to play?
Blackburn: I think the initial response is there’s responsibility of the local governments. And I think, you know, we did that to the best of our ability. But after the fact, the local governments can’t rebuild homes and they don’t have the money, local resources to do that. So I think that’s where the federal government has to step in.
Sharyl: When there’s a big disaster like this, do we need a FEMA or a big FEMA, what are your thoughts?
James: My original thought was we probably will be able to handle it because of how we’ve done things in times past. But then we saw where there would possibly be a need because it is so widespread. If it had not been in the capacity that it has been this time, the scope of this is much larger than our city could do and our county could do.
Sharyl (on-camera): FEMA has given out $47 million in what’s called “displacement assistance” for Helene and recently extended the deadline to apply for relief to January 7th.
Watch video here.
