FEMA Truth

First, let me justify why I am sharing this through Facebook and LinkedIn.  I have friends on Facebook who have already asked me to separate truth from fiction based on my experience.   As for LinkedIn, I want to pre-empt anyone claiming this is politics.  That is not my motivation.  LinkedIn is where people go to discuss professions and job opportunities.  Many right now are wondering whether FEMA and/or the federal government are worthwhile options.

Next, so we are all working from the same foundation, let’s get past the misconception that federal support to the states after large natural disasters began with President Carter’s establishment of FEMA in 1979.  In fact, the first recorded act of federal disaster relief came in response to the devastating fires in Portsmouth N.H. on December 26, 1802, that threatened commerce throughout the entire northeast of our nation.  There have been countless examples of federal disaster assistance in the years between that have enabled our nation to survive and thrive.

I am also not here to suggest that FEMA, like any organization, is beyond examination and consideration for improvements.  FEMA staff and leadership have themselves consistently called upon necessary changes.  FEMA is governed by the Stafford Act and has made improvements through several Acts since, including the Disaster Mitigation Act, the Defense Production Act, the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Act, the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act, and the Disaster Recovery Reform Act.  Each and every one of these Acts were debated and voted upon by politicians, not FEMA leadership nor employees.  I welcome the next discussion and potential changes that can best address how we, as a nation of united states, manage natural disasters.

But to do so with any hope of success, we must speak the truth.  On January 25, during a Los Angeles Fire Press Conference, President Trump stated,  “FEMA is incompetently run….they want permit in permit on permit, and then they want permits on top of that.”  In the quite lengthy press conference, this is the only example he cited to justify his comment on FEMA’s incompetence.  So here is some truth.

Permits arise form a wide array of local, county, state, and federal laws.  All of these are voted upon by politicians, not government employees.  Government employees have a legal responsibility to abide the law.  The preponderance of permits being addressed here are building permits.  Building permits are the way counties, towns and municipalities enforce their building codes. Local governments adopt those codes in order to ensure that all buildings meet minimum safety and structural standards. They update them every few years as new building methods and materials are introduced.  To suggest that FEMA wants these permits is both absurd and misplaced.  And to consider eliminating all permits is myopic and short-sighted at best. 

This is just one of thousands of examples where FEMA is misunderstood and unfairly scapegoated.  Some more truths –

All disasters are local.  A disaster starts with individuals, families, neighbors, voluntary organizations, faith-based centers, and local authorities.  When they become overwhelmed, they request support from the state.  When the state and all of it’s resources become overwhelmed, they request assistance from the federal government.  For those of you who may not know, FEMA has never – not once – approved or denied a request for federal assistance.  Those have all come from the President of the United States, to include President Trump in his first term.  Politicians, not FEMA, make these decisions. 

And the politics becomes a merry-go-round of finger pointing.  Look at the number of federal declarations over the last twenty years, regardless of whether the President was Democrat or Republican.  You will find that there is a higher approval rate for declarations when the President and the Governor are from the same party.  Listen to the Governors who claim FEMA is doing well or poorly.  Overwhelmingly, the complaints are higher when the Governor is from a different party than the President at the time.  All of this has nothing to do with FEMA’s competence and everything to do with politics.

This misinformation and obfuscation did not start yesterday.   Back on October 9, 2024, JD Vance wrote in a Wall Street Journal Opinion piece that FEMA’s response, to include funding, has been negatively impacted by a directive to “reorient FEMA’s institutional focus away from U.S. citizens and toward aliens….”  Not true.  The truth is that Oct 3, federal disaster assistance was approved and available for survivors in designated counties in Florida, Georgia North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.  By the very next day, Oct 4, more than $45 million was already in the hands of survivors. The misleading rhetoric resulted in eligible individuals and families not requesting and not receiving essential assistance.

Other truths come out when we read Project 25, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise:

p. 134, “The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) be moved to the  Department of the Interior or, if combined with CISA, to the Department of Transportation.”  There is no explanation included for why this realignment would help, not to mention it seems like little more than a flip of a coin between DOI and DOT.

p. 167, “These opportunities include privatizing TSA screening and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)”  The entire reason the NFIP exists is because private insurance companies will not take up the mantle.  And why would they risk losing so much money when they are risk experts.

P 167, goes on to say “…reforming FEMA emergency spending to shift the majority of preparedness and response costs to states and localities instead of the federal government, eliminating most of DHS’s grant programs….”  I have already pointed out that presidents, not FEMA, approves federal assistance.  President Trump could simply choose less or no assistance at all – a choice he did not make in his previous administration.

p. 185, “FEMA is the lead federal agency in preparing for and responding to disasters, but it is overtasked, overcompensates for the lack of state and local preparedness and response, and is regularly in deep debt.”  I actually agree with this one.  But again, not only have Presidents approved every declaration, but they are also the ones who have given FEMA work and overtasked them way outside their mission described in the Stafford Act (approved by politicians).  The mission creep includes the Gulf Oil Spill, Haiti Earthquake, COVID, and the Border Crisis.  FEMA is overtasked, not incompetent.

Here is the real FEMA.  The employees come from a variety of backgrounds, with many coming from the military or non-profit roles.  Most employees could make more money doing what they do in the private sector.  They deploy to austere locations, not knowing when they will see their own families again, for extended periods to help people they have never met.

While deployed, even though FEMA is only part of the whole community, politics serve to have mayors and governors point the negative finger at FEMA, instead of accepting responsibility.  Seldom is a finger pointed at individuals who don’t buy insurance and/or don’t mitigate their homes.  Rarely is the finger pointed at the community who could rally around and not wait for the federal government to help.  It is far too uncommon to hold a mayor or governor responsible, especially if they share a party affiliation with the president.  And the rarest of all is holding other federal agencies responsible.  Declarations are Federal, not FEMA.  During the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, virtually every FEMA leader was deployed there.  The military response was similarly huge.  But where were leadership from HHS, HUD, EPA, DOJ, DOT – and why was nobody asking?

In full disclosure, I was a FEMA employee for fifteen years.  And while my colleagues came from diverse backgrounds, every single employee I ever worked with and met, cared about doing good on the planet.  Every single one of them demonstrated skills and education to serve their country.  They believe in a higher calling.  So when someone uninformed calls FEMA incompetent, without taking their own responsibility, the responsibility of other responders, and the bigger picture into account, they are falsely insulting every member of the institution.  FEMA is not a word.  It is a group of amazing, dedicated, selfless, and talented emergency responders. 

So why don’t they speak up?  Because they can’t.  1) A political appointee with little emergency management experience has been put in charge and they have been silenced. 2) The Administration has shut down government social media to eliminate transparency and hide their actions. 3) They rightly fear for their jobs in an Administration who has threatened their future, is taking away their rights, and looks to fire many of them without concern for their futures or families.

So, I am speaking up.  I speak truth.  I am proud of the people who have worked and still work for FEMA.  They are doing good on the planet.  I see them.  I thank them.  I applaud them.

I stand with FEMA.