White House defends FEMA staff purge before hurricane season
The article discusses the recent leadership changes at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),where White House officials insist that these changes will not affect the nation’s preparedness for hurricanes. FEMA announced that 16 top executives,including MaryAnn Tierney,the acting second-in-command,will leave their positions ahead of the hurricane season starting on June 1. White House press secretary Karoline leavitt emphasized the management’s continuous monitoring of storms and natural disasters, asserting that the Trump administration remains actively involved in disaster preparedness.
Despite the purges and leadership shifts, which have included the recent firing of FEMA’s acting administrator Cameron Hamilton, Trump aims to strengthen disaster management. He has previously suggested eliminating FEMA, indicating a preference for other entities to handle disaster response, but the White House maintains that they are committed to federal assistance for states during emergencies.The article also expands on how the administration is handling disaster readiness amid scrutiny and ongoing political battles regarding disaster relief efforts.
White House: FEMA leadership purge won’t impact hurricane preparedness
White House officials maintain the recent purge of senior Federal Emergency Management Agency officials won’t impact the nation’s hurricane preparedness.
FEMA announced Wednesday that 16 agency executives, including the agency’s acting second-in-command MaryAnn Tierney, would be leaving their posts, roughly one week before the official start of hurricane season on June 1.
HURRICANE WATCH: TRUMP’S REMADE WEATHER AGENCIES IN THE EYE OF THE DOGE STORM
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt deferred a question about the FEMA purge to the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the disaster agency, but claimed that the Trump administration was taking an active role in preparing for all natural disasters.
“Certainly the administration, and I know the National Security Council here at the White House, is monitoring storms and natural disasters that are happening across the country at all times. We’re briefed on those,” she told the Washington Examiner. “The administration is briefed on those, and Secretary Noem is leading that effort.”
DHS and FEMA officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump made FEMA a core focus across the final weeks of his 2024 presidential campaign, visiting the Asheville, North Carolina region roughly a month after one of the deadliest hurricanes in the nation’s history. Trump argued that the Biden administration was derelict in its duty regarding disaster relief and seized on a scandal involving the apparent politicization of government resources involving a Florida official.
Still, since entering office, Trump has called for the outright elimination of FEMA, suggesting that he’d like to see other existing federal entities take over disaster preparedness and relief efforts. Earlier this month, acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, was unceremoniously fired just one day after testifying before Congress that, unlike Trump, he does not “believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
Trump replaced Hamilton as acting administrator with David Richardson, who has vowed to “run right over” agency officials seeking to undercut Trump’s broader government directives.
An internal FEMA memo, first reported by CNN last week, outlined that Trump’s cuts to the agency had left the government “not ready” for the June 1 start of hurricane season. White House officials sought to downplay the CNN report, noting to the Washington Examiner that Trump’s FEMA Review Council, “comprised of top experts in their fields,” held its first meeting earlier this week.
And the White House said that Trump will continue to to respond to federal assistance requests from governors “with great care and consideration.”
“He has been closely monitoring the storm situation and the Trump Administration has been in touch with local officials,” a senior White House aide said in a statement. “While the President’s decisions are communicated directly to the governor of an affected state, the Trump administration remains committed to empowering and working with State and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes.”
BEHIND THE SCENES OF TRUMP’S ‘MADE-FOR-TV’ FOREIGN POLICY
You can watch Thursday’s briefing in full below.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Auto Amazon Links: Could not resolve the given unit type, . Please be sure to update the auto-insert definition if you have deleted the unit.