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President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security presented a softer approach on federal emergency management in his Senate confirmation hearing, rejecting the idea of eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency and pledging to undo some of his predecessor’s unpopular policies.
The remarks by Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday raised hopes among disaster response managers that a shift is coming in the administration’s approach to FEMA after months of turbulence under the outgoing DHS secretary, Kristi Noem.
Despite Mullin’s mostly conciliatory remarks about federal disaster response, it remains to be seen what changes he would champion or how he would lead if confirmed. Mullin is loyal to the Republican president, whose messaging on FEMA has been inconsistent.
“It’s got a great mission, and I think people at FEMA want to do their job,” Mullin told fellow Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma during the hearing on his nomination.. Mullin said he backed efforts to make FEMA more effective, speed up payments to state and local jurisdictions and better serve rural communities.
Trump has floated the idea of phasing out the agency and pushing more disaster responsibilities to states. Mullin’s remarks came less than a year after FEMA’s then-acting leader, Cameron Hamilton, was fired after a House committee hearing where he said the agency should not be eliminated.
FEMA under Noem
FEMA was mired in upheaval and uncertainty throughout Noem’s DHS tenure. There were staff reductions, program cuts and delays to disaster declarations and spending.
A report from the Trump-appointed FEMA Review Council that is meant to spell out recommendations for overhauling the agency is months late, keeping states and others in suspense over how much they can rely on federal disaster support in the future.
Former FEMA officials expressed hope that Mullin’s comments could mark a change from the tumult under Noem and signal an opening to serious efforts to streamline the agency.
“He gets the importance of FEMA and while there is definitely room for improvement, he understands the partnership with FEMA is essential,” said Deanne Criswell, FEMA administrator under Democratic President Joe Biden.
Pete Gaynor, FEMA administrator during Trump’s first term, said Mullin’s remarks were “an impressive and meaningful first step forward.”
Mullin suggests a change is coming
In exchanges with Lankford and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., Mullin maintained that disaster response should be locally led, with FEMA in a supporting role — an approach laid out in the agency’s mission — and that changes were needed to speed payments to disaster-hit communities.
“Taking years to get reimbursed is not acceptable,” Mullin said. “Taking, honestly, months to get reimbursed is not acceptable.”
Pressed by Kim on specific policies, Mullin said he would revoke Noem’s directive that she must personally approve expenditures over $100,000, a rule that infuriated lawmakers of both parties who said it compromised disaster response and recovery.
“I’m not a micromanager,” said Mullin, also telling Kim that he was looking at potential nominees for a permanent FEMA administrator. Trump has not nominated a permanent head for an agency now under its third temporary leader.
While Mullin told Kim that FEMA would be “adequately staffed” to respond to the nation’s disasters, he stopped short of saying whether he believed it had too many employees.
Mullin committed to working with lawmakers on potential FEMA changes after Kim complained that Noem had not engaged senators
“I’m pretty sure that you guys set the policies and mission for FEMA, so for any serious changes, it may take actually policy changes,” he told Kim.
Some are unconvinced
Amanda Devecka-Rinear, executive director of the New Jersey Organizing Project, which advocates for Hurricane Sandy survivors, said she wanted to wait to see Mullin’s words put to action.
“Disaster survivors have been misled by hollow rhetoric before, and will be watching closely if Sen. Mullin is confirmed by the Senate to see if his actions match his words,” Devecka-Rinear said.
It is not clear whether Mullin would embrace some of the ideas floated by Trump, Noem and the FEMA Review Council, such as giving states block grants instead of reimbursements and revising the thresholds state and local communities must meet to qualify for a major disaster declaration.
Disaster experts and some local stakeholders have cautioned that those changes could mean less money to states, tribes and territories. States would have to make budget trade-offs to adapt to any federal downsizing of support and would need time to make those adjustments, according to Peter Muller, senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts, who spoke at a gathering of state emergency managers last week.
Mullin did not directly commit to reinstating FEMA employees who were put on leave after signing an August public letter of dissent opposing policies they said weakened the agency. He acknowledged to Kim that retaliating against whistleblowers was against the law.
“I’ll work within the law and the requirements of me, as secretary,” he said.
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This story corrects the spelling of the last name of Amanda Devecka-Rinear, executive director of the New Jersey Organizing Project, from Devecka-Renear.
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