Noem Rejects 'False Reporting' From Anonymous FEMA Holdovers

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem struck back directly at media attacks claiming DHS oversight negatively impacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency response to the deadly Texas floods early this month.

"Those claims are absolutely false," Noem told NBC's "Meet the Press," discrediting the attacks sourcing anonymous FEMA holdovers from former President Joe Biden's administration, potentially jilted by the Trump reorganization usurping their authority.

"Within just an hour or two after the flooding we had resources from the Department of Homeland Security there, helping those individuals in Texas. It was a heartbreaking scene.

"And I think it's been well covered about what the Coast Guard did, how they were deployed immediately and helped rescue so many individuals from those floodwaters. And we had Border Patrol down there with their tactical teams, and FEMA was there just within a few hours as well."

Not only did the federal government not fail to respond, but the action was more coordinated and swift than ever before, according to Noem.

"So those claims are false," she continued to host Kristen Welker. "They're from people who won't put their name behind those claims. And those call centers were fully staffed and responsive. And this is the fastest I believe, in years, maybe decades that FEMA has been deployed to help individuals in this type of a situation."

President Donald Trump, upset with the "red tape," bureaucracy, waste, fraud, and failed responses of the past, has sought to streamline the emergency response by directing FEMA coordination up to Noem.

Trump sent Noem to the Texas flood response the morning of July 4 in the early hours of search and rescue operations, allowing her to pull the levers for the federal response, she said.

"They were deployed immediately, as soon as they were requested," Noem told Welker. "And I think what matters the most here is what the local officials on the ground say and what their feedback is. You know, I was there that very morning and that afternoon when the flooding was happening and was with those emergency responders right away, with the governor, with Nim Kidd, who's running the state's response.

"And every one of them will tell you that they got everything that they needed when they asked for it immediately and that they've never seen a federal government respond in support of a state's management of a disaster situation like this. So those claims, I don't know who's making them out of FEMA because FEMA has been incredibly responsive.

"We've had over 700 different employees engaged right in Texas. And as soon as that disaster request was put in, forwarded to the White House, and approved within hours."

Welker, attempted to adopt liberal media attack points on the response, but those were categorically rejected by Noem, including the anonymous complaints from FEMA holdovers that criticized the new policy that require Noem's signoffs on $100,000-plus contracts.

"This is what I think is really unfortunate, is that we have a situation where so many individuals are playing politics with what happened to Texas," Noem said, noting the buck stopping with her expedited the DHS and federal response and did not cripple it. "And the governor and the emergency responders on the ground, the mayor of that city, the judge in that county who has some authority over emergency response, every one of them said, 'As soon as we asked for help, they were here. The federal government was here.'

"And we didn't just deploy FEMA. We deployed our Coast Guard and BORTAC [Border Patrol Tactical Unit] teams. Border Patrol was amazing. Every single agency that we had was there helping as many individuals as we possibly could.

"And that's what I think is remarkable. It was a very different response, I think, from the federal government we've ever seen in a disaster like this because we had so many different agencies immediately respond. And that's the way that it should be."

The reorganization and streamlining of FEMA has been a priority for the Trump administration after poor responses, particularly in red states under Biden.

Clearly, there remains a Biden problem at FEMA, as now upset FEMA holdovers are ostensibly criticizing the Trump administration from taking away their power on $100,000 contracts.

But Noem told Welker that is merely a way to drive the buck to the top without the bureaucracy's middle men.

"It's not extra red tape; it's making sure everything is getting to my level and that it's immediately responded to," Noem concluded. "This was not slowed down at all. In fact, it was much more responsive. If you remember, I was there. I was standing right there long before this report ever came out. And people were asking, and we were granting permission in real time.

"So the false reporting has been something that is inappropriate, and it's something that I think we need to clear up: that this response was by far the best response we've seen out of FEMA, the best response we've seen out of the federal government in many, many years and certainly much better than what we saw under Joe Biden."