The Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
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"That’s why I am working so hard to eliminate FEMA as it exists today, and streamline this bloated organization into a tool that actually benefits Americans in crisis," Noem added.
President Donald Trump, who has been critical of the disaster agency since his presidential campaign, told reporters in June that FEMA "has not worked out well."
"It's extremely expensive and, again, when you have a tornado or a hurricane or you have a problem of any kind, in a state, that's what you have governors for," Trump added. "They're supposed to fix those problems, and it's much more local and they'll develop a system, and it will be a great system."
The devastation of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
"The Biden administration spent hundreds of millions of dollars resettling illegal aliens in our country on American taxpayers’ dime, while FEMA still hasn’t even finished payouts from Hurricane Katrina," Noem explained to Fox. "We don’t want to just fix a broken system, we want to build something better."
"As our successes in Texas make clear, the Trump administration has created a deployable disaster force that cuts through the bureaucratic noise, and delivers real results in record time," Noem added.
KENTUCKY GOVERNOR PRAISES FEMA UNDER TRUMP, SAYS ITS A 'CREDIT TO HIS ADMINISTRATION'
Despite the partisan back-and-forth, some Democrats have recognized the positive direction the disaster agency is heading under Noem and Trump’s leadership.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear told "At Our Table" podcast host Jaime Harrison earlier this month that "Trump’s FEMA on the ground has done a good job in Kentucky" and that the federal government’s handling of the agency is "actually a credit to [Trump’s] administration."
Gov. Andy Beshear praised FEMA under President Trump. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Win McNamee/Getty Images)
While the immediate future of FEMA and how Congress may go about funding the agency remains unclear, Noem is optimistic that much of the wasteful spending that came from previous leadership will be put to rest.
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"These [FEMA] career bureaucrats had Support Service contracts for everything they do, from finance to management support to staffing reviews," a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) told Fox News Digital. "They hardly did anything themselves."
"Instead, they hid their egregious misuse of taxpayer funds under the veneer of 'emergency management,' the DOGE officed explained to Fox. "No wonder they have the time to write letters to the hill – they certainly weren’t spending their time working."
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/noem-hits-back-fema-critics-reveals-vision-disaster-relief-agency