House lawmakers announced Thursday that they will put FEMA under a “microscope” to assess its future as President Donald Trump has floated the idea of getting rid of the agency altogether.
Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL), the chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, said that he will hold a hearing on March 4 to evaluate FEMA’s use of taxpayer dollars. The agency has faced heavy criticism in recent months for its handling of recent hurricanes and reports of political bias.
“For nearly fifty years, Americans in every corner of this country have turned to FEMA for help when disaster hits,” Strong said. “Alongside President Trump and his administration, the Committee will continue to conduct oversight and examine reforms within the agency to ensure it works effectively and efficiently to serve Americans in need.”
“After four decades of experience as a first responder, I am honored to start my tenure as subcommittee chairman by hearing valuable insight from the emergency management community on how we can strike a better balance between FEMA and state governments in this effort,” Strong added.
The hearing will feature testimony from Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Jeff Smitherman, former FEMA official Timothy Manning, and several other emergency responder specialists.
Last year, the committee began an investigation into FEMA after The Daily Wire reported that former supervisor Marn’i Washington directed employees to skip homes with Trump signs or flags in Lake Placid, Florida.
Trump cited the guidance in an executive order last month as one of the reasons he was launching a robust investigation of the agency.
“There are serious concerns of political bias in FEMA,” Trump wrote in the executive order. “Indeed, at least one former FEMA responder has stated that FEMA managers directed her to avoid homes of individuals supporting the campaign of Donald J. Trump for President.”
Trump has suggested that FEMA might be scrapped and responsibilities for responding to natural disasters shifted to the states.
“FEMA has not done their job for the last four years. You know, I had FEMA working really well. We had hurricanes in Florida. We had Alabama tornadoes,” he said in January. “But unless you have certain types of leadership, it’s really, it gets in the way. And FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems.”
