FEMA Is Messing Up Again During Partial Gov't Shutdown, Thanks To ICE Barbie

Not really surprising, but Kristi Noem is making
disaster relief work for FEMA employees harder
than it needs to be during the
current partial government shutdown. 

The partial government shutdown, affecting the Department of Homeland Security, TSA and the Federal Emergency Management District, is about a week old now, and shows no signs of ending. 

Usually, when this type of things happen, essential workers keep working. That should include FEMA employees who should be helping victims of disasters, like the epic winter storm last month. 

As usually, the Trump administration, namely Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi "ICE Barbie" Noem, seem to be messing it up.  As head of DHS, Noem oversees FEMA. 

According to the Washington Post,  DHS halted almost all travel, which virtually erased the ability of FEMA staff to move in and out of disaster areas. WaPo based its reporting emails and documents the paper obtained.

Homeland Security and FEMA employee typically stop traveling to things like trainings, or conferences during government shutdowns. But a government shutdown almost never stops people from going to disaster areas to help with recovery.  

Per WaPo:

"On Tuesday might, DHS sent out an email ordering a stop to all travel, including for disaster-related work, sparking confusion across FEMA as teams continue to respond to 14 ongoing disaster declarations as a result of brutal winter storms that hit parts of the country last month. 

In another message obtained by the Post, a FEMA official said that 'ALL travel stopped' and noted that 360 people who were slated to go to trainings and other assignments had to stand down. People who were supposed to deploy could begin some work virtually, but DHS now had to sign off on their in-person assignment, the message said." 

 The restrictions on travel have come down even though most FEMA deployments are paid through a Disaster Relief Fund that isn't affected by the shutdown, CNN noted. 

 Officials told the Washington Post that the stoppage on trips to disaster areas reflect policies instituted under Noem.  

"That's why instituting travel restrictions when staffers are still working on this storm responses is even more frustrating, several current employees said. 'They are just trying to make it hurt, and the only people they are hurting are survivors and FEMA employees."

When the no-travel directive went out, official and employees at DHS and FEMA sought guidance from higher ups on how to reach disaster areas and continue their work. 

To justify heading to a disaster zone, staffers were told to submit their justifications to higher ups, including whether the trip was "mission essential"  and involves the "safety of human life or protection of property."

Of course, somebody then has to approve the whole each employee statement, so you can see the bottleneck here. 

FEMA employees are not happy, as you can imagine. "DHS imposing restrictions FEMA's ability to deploy our response/recovery workforce slows us down and limits our ability to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of impacted states and communities," one employee wrote.

People who were in regions hit hard by recent storms could continue their work, at least for now. But other FEMA  employees who were scheduled to rotate in this Thursday to relieve those workers are now barred from doing so. 

The rotations are important for disaster work because FEMA officials who have been working nonstop get a break, refresh, and are able to go full speed ahead when it's their turn to go in again. FEMA is also required to relieve employees who have been working too long in a state where they don't live, WaPo noted.

The delays affect recovery from disasters that happened as long ago as the autumn of 2024, when Hurricane Helene smashed huge swaths of the Southeastern U.S. That's going to create backlogs in the future. 

"'If we can't get people to Florida or North Carolina to help validate damages from Helene, we can't approve funding for these projects,' one FEMA official, who asked not to be identified, told CNN. 'If we can't staff a Disaster Recovery Center in Washington State or Alaska, how can people get help with their assistance applications?'

DHS of course deny that there's a problem, but in a statement said restrictions on travel are "not a choice but are necessary to comply with federal law"

 "While some non-essential activities will be paused or scaled back FEMA remains committed to supporting communities and responding to incidents like Hurricane Helene," according to the DHS statement. 

The travel restrictions during the shutdown are on top of a policy ICE Barbie put in place last year, which states that each expenditure over $100,000 requires Noem's personal approval. That has created enormous backlogs in FEMA funds awaiting her go-ahead. Members of Congress and state officials are also exasperated with this. 

It doesn't help that ICE Barbie is so often too busy cosplaying as some sort of immigration cop for the cameras instead of actually doing her job.

The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month at the hands of federal immigration officers prompted Democrats to demand reforms in exchange for a spending package to fund affected federal agencies. 

Democrats want to bar immigration officers fm wearing masks. They also want a stop to the "roving patrols" when officers conduct broad searches and stop people, sometimes on the flimsiest of evidence or no evidence that they might be in the U,S, illegally.  They also want to make it easier to pursue legal actions against officers who engage in misconduct. Also, they want agents to display clear identification when encountering the public.

Congress is not due in session again until next Monday, so it will be at least until then before anything is resolved. 

Even before this latest debacle, FEMA was down 1,600 employees compared to a little over a year ago under ICE Barbie's administration. 

 

UPDATE: Among Many Potential Casualties Of Musk/Trump Shutdown Effort Is Critical Disaster Aid

House Speaker Mike Johnson worked out a deal to prevent
the government from shutting down, but it appears his 
overlords Elon Musk and Donald Trump don't approve.
Which means the government has a high chance of 
shutting down, and badly needed FEMA disaster
relief won't go to victims who have 
already been waiting a long time for help. 

 So, President Musk, I mean, President-elect Trump don't like the budget deal that would prevent a government shutdown, so these kings of chaos want to make a mess.  

They're doing a good job of it. 

Sure, the negotiated deal between Republican and Democratic house members is a bit o a cumbersome mess.

The whole effort by Musk to shut everything down, though, seems designed solely to throw a monkey wrench into the workings of government by any means necessary, and this is just the opening salvo of the chaos that we will endure for the next four years. 

This being a weather and climate blog, I'll ignore for now most of the zillions of things that will go wrong if there is a government shutdown.

But part of the deal that Musk and Trump and the MAGA crowd don't like is the more than $100 million in badly needed FEMA relief money from the weather and climate disasters we've had in the past year. Those included Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the some of the flood disasters here in Vermont.

Per CBS News:

The now-threatened funding "included $110.4 billion in disaster aid:  $29 billion for FEMA's disaster relief fund; $8 billion for federal highways and roads, $12 billion for the Community Development Block grants and disaster relief; and $3.2 for Tribal Assistance grants. It also replenishes the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program with $2.2 billion. The program was exhausted in the aftermath of Hurricanes Milton and Helene earlier this year."

Vermont's Congressional delegation say they are ready to vote for the continuing resolution if it includes  the disaster aid. "I will not abandon Vermonts. I will not abandon those around the country impacted by flooding, wildfires, hurricanes and other extreme weather. I will not vote for a continuing resolution without comprehensive disaster aid," Sen. Peter Welch, D-VT said via a posting on Threads. 

Bottom line: Those of you who need help from the federal government after enduring climate and weather disasters are on their own, at least if shadow president Elon Musk, Trump and his minions have their way. Which seems a near certainty.

We'll see whether a deal is reached by Friday, but I'm not holding my breath.  

Current Congressional Government Shutdown Threat/FEMA Fight Is Small Hint Of Discord We'll See In Trump Administration

Congress has until Friday to pass a continuing 
resolution, and hopefully fund FEMA disaster
relief, though neither is a sure bet. 

The U.S. Senate plans to adjourn December 20, and there's a last ditch effort to pass some badly needed disaster relief money for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.  

That FEMA money would hopefully one part of a continuing spending resolution must pass or there will be a government shut down.  Yeah, Congress is kicking the can down the road again instead of just doing the budget like they're supposed to.

FEMA funding is emerging as a major sticking point. 

As NewsNation reports:

"While there is broad bipartisan support for disaster relief, some Republicans have raised concerns with the size and scope of the White House's request, particular proposed fund in areas like the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency."

Against that backdrop,  Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont is pushing for giving FEMA at least $98 billion in emergency funding to cope with a slew of big U.S. disasters in recent months. As we well know, some of those disasters have occurred in Vermont. 

Welch said Congress hasn't passed comprehensive disaster aid since 2022 and the need is piling up. 

"The longer we wait to help disaster victims, the more disaster victims we will have. The list of needs will only grow Delay hurts, it doesn't help. That's why I am asking my colleagues in the Senate and the House to act now and act quickly. 

For Vermont, and for every state hit by a disaster since we passed a disaster bill so many storms ago....We cannot wait. We have common ground in our common crisis. We must send a disaster bill to President Biden's desk," Welch said. 

FEMA funding is more important than ever because, as Welch just told us, those disasters are piling up. More and more people live in places with dangerous weather, and climate change continues to make those disasters worse than they otherwise would be. And they're expanding in scope.

In the short term, between now and December 20, the biggest obstacle to potential FEMA funding is the so-called Freedom Caucus, 

The caucus would only support disaster funding if money is taken out of the budget somewhere else. In a statement last week, members of the Freedom Caucus said. "The House should consider only what is absolutely necessary right now to prove critical relief to hurricane victims and farmers, and pay for it with offsets from wasteful spending elsewhere in the government, then wait for President Trump to take office to better manage disaster relief."

As of Saturday, at least some observers seemed optimistic some disaster aid will be approved in a stopgap measure, even if it's not the $98 billion the Biden administration - and Sen. Welch - want.

No matter what happens with Congress and FEMA funding this week, the problem is going to keep getting worse.  Like it or not, the federal government is going to have to fund more and more money for disaster relief in the coming decade. 

Even though Donald Trump, about to enter the White House doesn't want to spend money on things like that. 

The Trump and MAGA people seem intent on making life as hard as possible for most working class people, including disaster victims.  I think disaster aid will be severely curtailed during the Trump administration, even as those disasters will almost surely keep piling up.

 If Trump and his minions have their way, disaster victims will be on their own more than ever.  Eventually, there will be a lot of angry people out there.  Before I go on, I'll make things clear that I don't want anybody to threaten violence or actually cause it. 

But you saw the visceral anger in the past couple weeks at the murderous and dystopian U.S. health care industry after the murder of the United Health CEO. 

If the new administration dares screw over disaster and climate victims over the next four years, it could get ugly. Even some of Trump's biggest fans will turn on him, though I admit his most rabid followers will make excuses for him.

The inevitable upcoming disasters and a lack of response to them will sow even more discord in the U.S., as if we don't have enough already.