In fire-ravaged California, the state’s Democratic leaders pressed Trump for federal assistance that he’s threatened to hold up, some setting aside their past differences to shower him with praise. Trump, in turn, pressured local officials to waive permitting requirements so people can immediately rebuild, pledging that federal permits would be granted promptly.
Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, the Republican president said Washington could provide money directly to the states. He made the comments while visiting North Carolina, which is still recovering months after Hurricane Helene, on the first trip of his second term.
“FEMA has been a very big disappointment,” the Republican president said. “It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow.”
He wants to get rid of FEMA to make it all about political favors so he can solidify his power.
Trump said Michael Whatley, a North Carolina native and chair of the Republican National Committee, would help coordinate recovery efforts in the state, where frustrations over the federal response have lingered. Although Whatley does not hold an official government position, Trump said he would be “very much in charge.”
Has anyone gotten a comment from Whatley since Trump declared this? It would be interesting to know if he was totally blindsided by this.
Also, yeah, they want to set up the most insanely depraved system of old school graft imaginable, if they get their way it’s going to be things like only loyal Republicans getting clean drinking water after a tornado blows up the town sewage treatment plant
I haven’t looked at the specifics, but I doubt that having states do allocation is more efficient in terms of size of bureaucracy. If you have states do allocation, then you need to keep people hired at a state level to be available if a disaster strikes in a state. If you have them hired at a federal level, then you can hire one set of people and shift them from disaster to disaster around the country.
Most states actually have FEMA like departments.
But let’s not kid ourselves here. Trump’s goal is to not give states that didn’t elect him any federal assistance while giving even more to the states that did.
This isn’t about efficiency. It’s about fascism.
Most large COUNTIES have an EMA.
The US is kinda messed up that basically every government function is just duplicated smaller and smaller into each jurisdiction.
Federal EMA is there to provide guidance and support to the state’s EMA, which provides guidance and support to the city or county EMA.
