FEMA's response to Texas flood slowed by Trump's Homeland Security Kristi Noem's cost controls [View all]

My bet is that Noem needs to get Trumps OK BEFORE she issues any release of MONEY!!



FEMA’s response to Texas flood slowed by Noem’s cost controls
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/09/politics/fema-texas-flood-noem


Gabe Cohen Updated 5:05 AM EDT, Thu July 10, 2025


As monstrous floodwaters surged across central Texas late last week, officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency leapt into action, preparing to deploy critical search and rescue teams and life-saving resources, like they have in countless past disasters.

But almost instantly, FEMA ran into bureaucratic obstacles, four officials inside the agency told CNN.

As CNN has previously reported, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — whose department oversees FEMA — recently enacted a sweeping rule aimed at cutting spending: Every contract and grant over $100,000 now requires her personal sign-off before any funds can be released.


For FEMA, where disaster response costs routinely soar into the billions as the agency contracts with on-the-ground crews, officials say that threshold is essentially “pennies,” requiring sign-off for relatively small expenditures. .........................