‘I’m relieved she’s gone’: Fema staffers celebrate ousting of Kristi Noem | Kristi Noem

Some current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) staff are celebrating Thursday’s firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who they say has made the United States more dangerous by micromanaging and shrinking the agency.

Since her confirmation to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last January, Noem’s tenure has been criticized for disparaging Fema, the nation’s top disaster management and recovery agency, and for repeatedly stating her support for dismantling the agency. Noem said the overhaul is necessary to end bloat and inefficiency.

“Kristi Noem has failed as the leader of DHS,” said Michael Coen, a former Fema chief of staff in the Obama and Biden administrations. “Fema’s micromanagement has eroded Fema’s capability and blocked critical funding from states and communities across the country.”

Noem’s dismissal follows her contentious testimony at Senate committee hearings, where she faced harsh criticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers. He became the first cabinet-level official to be fired by Donald Trump during his second term as president.

“Am I relieved he’s gone? Yes,” a long-time Fema official, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Guardian. “You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone at Fema who doesn’t fall on that spectrum, from relaxed to celebratory.”

Fema did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During her year in Trump’s cabinet, Noem sparked outrage for insisting on personally controlling staffing and spending at Fema, which is housed within DHS.

“He was a tremendously destructive force, and we will feel the extent of his incompetence for years to come,” the longtime official said. “He took the only part of DHS designed to help American communities and sacrificed it on the altar of ideology.”

For example, amid deadly summer floods in Texas, Fema officials were reportedly unable to preposition rescue teams or attend emergency calls due to a requirement that Noem personally approve all agency spending over $100,000. Noem in question He said the policy increased “accountability” and quickly approved all spending.

“The entire staff watched in horror as urban search and rescue resources were delayed and call center contracts ended, knowing that these decisions affected whether people would get help in time and, in some cases, whether people would live,” said a second long-time Fema executive, who asked to remain anonymous.

As DHS secretary, Noem also sought to eliminate thousands of Fema employees. Under his leadership, the agency also Billions postponed In disaster claims, the New York Times reports that the agency’s reimbursement backlog has reached a stunning $17 billion last month. He said he supported the idea last year, too. “Getting rid of Fema”Transfer responsibility for disaster recovery to states.

“His self-invented bureaucracy, combined with his inability and unwillingness to understand the agency, its mission, and its workforce, has left him in the worst situation since before 2005,” the first unnamed longtime official said. “We are in a more dangerous place as a nation because of his tenure.”

Trump was reported to be frustrated He took Noem’s lead but publicly defended her Thursday, praising her performance and reassigning her to a different post.

“Current Secretary Kristi Noem, who has served us so well and achieved so many amazing results (especially on the Border!), will be stepping up to become the Special Envoy for the Inter-American Shield,” he said. wrote on social media.

Fema staff expressed concerns about Noem’s leadership in an open letter in August; The letter warned that a sweeping overhaul of the agency would risk a disaster on the scale of the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Shortly after, authorities placed some of the letter signatories on leave.

“Fema employees are the best of us and [they] “When disasters happen, they are the first on the ground, and Noem has shown such a despicable disregard for that commitment to the public and such a blatant disregard for human life,” said Colette Delawalla, executive director of the activist group Stand Up For Science, which coordinated the August letter.

In firing Noem, Trump announced her successor: Markwayne Mullin, the Republican senator from Oklahoma.

“With Noem’s departure, there is an opportunity to stabilize FEMA and strengthen emergency management in every state, tribe and territory of the United States,” Coen said.

The first unnamed official to serve at Fema in a long time said he hoped Mullin, if confirmed, would bring “some level of accountability and transparency” to Fema.

“I’m not holding my breath,” he said, “but we’ll see.”

The second Fema director said that as news of Noem’s firing spread so quickly at the Fema office Thursday afternoon, “people gathered together.” [and] They added that while “Noem’s firing is great,” they expect Mullin’s tenure “may not be much better.”

The damage Noem has done at Fema will be difficult to undo, the person said. The manager said it left his staff “tired, demoralized, angry, perhaps a little spiteful”. And under his leadership, they said, the agency damaged relationships with state and local agency leaders that “took years to build” and lost experts with decades of experience.

“I don’t know how you’re going to fix or overcome this,” the manager said. “We probably won’t know the extent of the damage it has caused or how long it will take over the years to undo it.”

Craig Fugate, who led Fema from 2009 to 2017, wondered whether controls on agency spending would change under DHS’s new chief.

“What else will change with the change in leadership at DHS?” he asked.

Asked about a general reaction to Noem’s impeachment, he said: “Change is good.”