(The Hill) – Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) warned Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not prepared for hurricane season and “will fail this summer.”
Speaking before the House Rules Committee hearing Wednesday, Moskowitz said the sudden budget cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the suspension of grants mean that FEMA is inefficient and there is a risk of bankruptcy in a state that is prone to hurricanes if it doesn’t get approval for federal aid when the next storm hits.
“Do you remember Doge? Do you remember E at the end of Doge? What’s the word efficiency?” asked Moskowitz in his remarks. “Nothing has become more efficient at FEMA.”
“In fact, the Secretary of Homeland Security says he has changed FEMA to Newark Airport, which will fail this summer,” Moskowitz continued, referring to staffing and logistics issues at New Jersey’s international airports.
“And while looking, there’s no doubt that FEMA needed reforms, what they did in their hometown was taking something that they needed help and breaking it even more,” Moskowitz said.
He noted that some of the most at-risk states are areas represented by Republican leaders. These include speaker Mike Johnson (R) and Louisiana, from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R).
“Louisiana goes bankrupt without a fema. If hurricanes come from the Gulf of Mexico or the US Gulf, they go bankrupt when they come to Louisiana Gulf,” Moscowitz said.
“These states will go bankrupt without FEMA. But we haven’t seen Republican colleagues calling on the administration on how to save FEMA and reform it,” he added.
Over the past few months, the White House has taken many steps to strip FEMA, which has been the target of some Republicans.
FEMA has ended the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Community (BRIC) program aimed at helping communities prepare for natural disasters, labeling the program as “wasteful and ineffective.” The agency canceled applications from 2020 and 2023 and reabsorbed unclaimed funds. FEMA is also frozen nearly $10 billion in disaster aid for nonprofits pending review.
Moskowitz, who served as Florida’s emergency management director before joining Congress, noted that the funding freeze led to delays in payments to vendors and the state, disrupting disaster prevention efforts.
Moskowitz accused Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem of not warning the president of the impact of several cuts the department is making.
“There are dramatic improvements that need to be done at FEMA, but I am deeply concerned about what happened in my hometown. I don’t think the president is aware of the current situation in which the secretary left him. [in] And the men and women who work there, and the states who go to FEMA and rely on them to help them when they need it, said, “And those resources will be slower.”
He pointed out his emergency management background.
“I remind you, I did this for the Republican governor for a living. I’ve worked for two and a half years at Ron DeSantis and took off my political hat, so I’m not giving you any partisan coverage.
The Oka reached out to Homeland Security and FEMA for comment.
