ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he would sign an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally overhauling or eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “FEMA has turned out to be a disaster … I think we recommend that FEMA go away,” he said during a tour of North Carolina to see damage done by Hurricane Helene last year.
Goodbye New Orleans, Miami, Jacksonville, Virginia Beach, all those Florida cities that are underwater from hurricane surge every year now, etc
Asheville North Carolina received 63 million in FEMA aid just a few months ago to help recover from hurricane season. He lied trying to say they didn’t have the money and now he’s making that the case.
“But my egg prices” - morons about to have a very bad 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.
We all warned you this would happen. This move was plainly outlined in Project 2025. Nobody tricked you, you’re just fucking morons.
B b but Trump claimed he never heard of project 2025. He wouldn’t just lie to the American people right?
Accusing gentle Mr. Trump of a misdeed?
I’m sorry but it’s either just Trump or Mrs. Trump now. Respect the law.
Mrs. Trump
At least now we know who’s the bottom.
I think if he denies a state assistance because they won’t play his games, other countries step in and send all the assistance that state could want. Imagine if China just threw billions of dollars at LA without conditions to make a point. I don’t expect Xi to be that smart, but it would be funny as hell watching Trump scramble.
I remember a story about a remote town that needed a bridge replaced. And the federal government was dragging their feet about it until the town wrote to the Soviet Union about helping them build the bridge.
Xi and Trump seem to coordinate pretty closely. If Trump weakened US cohesiveness and Xi stepped in, Trump would thank him and kiss his ass.
Just like the covid crisis (it’s a hoax) where he said it would ‘disappear’, President Felon & his cult will leave us all to die without any help or caring from our government, that we fund !
Funds for me, not for thee.
It’s kind of funny when you put it that way because the FEMA claims and reimbursement process is so convoluted and labor intensive that those funds often only go to the wealthy.
FEMA funds are often only for [the wealthy] and not for [the poor]. FEMA absolutely needs an overhaul, but probably not the one Trump has in mind.
Many of us have direct experience getting FEMA relief and cash. We disagree with your claim.
+1. i got money from fema in 2017 and all i had to do was sign a webform saying i was impacted by the hurricane that just hit
Here is some research on the inequitable distribution of Stafford Act disbursements. They go to wealthy and white neighborhoods that have the resources to navigate the barriers to receiving funding. People in these neighborhoods have an easier time passing through the federal government’s fraud detection barriers, and are more likely to receive support from their (better-funded) local governments in filing for and receiving federal aid. FEMA payouts and insurance payouts are often intertwined, and this leads to further red tape, delays, and denials.
That said, I’ll admit that I may be biased because my mental model on the topic almost entirely comes from a former boss who relied on talking up these inequities to secure investment funding for a tool we claimed we wanted to design (in our public messaging) to help people navigate these barriers, organize their claims paperwork, and receive funding.
I would agree with the assessment that there can be a lack of fraud investigation, or even simply the inability to determine what areas need help vs. not, so they blanket approve some places. Whether or not that approval is driven by demographics I can’t say, only that in-laws who did not get much damage from one of the past storms had complete opportunity to claim some money for “whatever damage there was”, and didn’t because…that’s the wrong thing to do morally. How many people would do that, probably not 100%. But I don’t blame FEMA in concept, only in its funding and organization, and not being manned well enough to do its job well.
Looks like Trump fixed that problem by just removing it altogether. Free market disaster response will be a fascinating thing to document. Not to live through.
wtf, I got fema cash once. No paperwork. No convoluted process. I’m certainly not wealthy although I was surprised to qualify. Just money directly to fund repairs
HAHA SUCKS TO BE YOU — any red state that needs FEMA money… Florida, Texas, Louisiana, basically any Gulf of MEXICO state. Eat poop and choke.
Okay I feel what you’re saying, but also know that not every person in those states is not a trump loving sycophant.
I live in a blue island in Alabama and this is very disheartening news, most of my family and friends are bluer than blue. So I’d appreciate if everyone on the left didn’t look at red states the exact same way people on the right look at red states.
I feel for you, I promise. But you can leave Alabama at any time. If you want to talk about how you can make that happen, I’d love to help you brainstorm.
It’s not actually that easy to move states. It’s expensive and you’re leaving your entire network behind.
I’m aware. But at this point, they aren’t flipping blue. I get that it’s not something people want to think about, but shit is not going to stop hitting the fan for a long while.
I also think the urgency depends on whether or not a person is in a threatened group. Trans people, for example, need to have been packed and ready on Inauguration Day.
Complain about state being red. Tell blue people to leave, making it even redder. profit???
Tell people to stay and suffer??
So maybe that - and trump can also withhold money from states that don’t kiss his ass. Think of it this way…if people are hit hard by some disaster and the state can only do so much, trump can just say your governor sucks, get rid of him/her and I’ll see that you get money from the fed. Trump puts a favored talibangelical candidate forward, and sees what happens.
He’s already trying this with California, telling them they need to pass restrictive voting laws in exchange for fire aid.
So trump thinks that a president is king and that royal decrees (executive orders) can just do whatever the hell he wants, bypassing senate and all, ignoring existing law
It’s not how that works, it’s not how anything works, but for some weird reason the Senate just goes with it and for existing law, well, so far judges are striking down all his shit but something tells me that the supre court will just say with the first trial that cheeto is always right and that will be it.
In other words: It is exactly how it works.
It’s very demonstrably how that works in the context of recent US history. It shouldn’t, but it does.
I know this is stretching it, but given how stupid of a timeline we’re in, I have to allow for the possibility that FEMA is being disbanded because CA Gov. Newsom is taller than Trump.
The south hurt itself in its confusion.
…again
I think you misunderstand his goal here. This won’t stop him from giving aid to the people/states who help him. This will only stop FEMA helping everyone unconditionally. He isn’t trying to stop aid. He’s trying to stop aid without strings attached. This is a power play.
States would need to create an emergency bureaucracy redundant to each other state. California or Texas could do it but good luck South Dakota.
Plus read about how he specifically didn’t want emergency response people ready to jump in and help, just money. Money to be allocated on personal choice, not need, to the governor. Money for the governor to allocate by personal choice, not need, to communities and companies. This is about buying favors all the way down.
He’s going to form the department of paper towel throwing
How long until we start hearing about politicians having legitimate discussions about secession? The whole point of the Union is to help each other out.
California already is having those discussions. They’re collecting required signatures.
That’s just normal CA ballot measure BS. It’s the actual senators and reps that I’m wondering about.
Fuck it. Bye Texas. Bye Florida. You will not be missed.
I’ll miss me, but also not really. I’ve already accepted that I’m probably gonna die before Trump is out of office—I don’t know if it’s better to go out in a concentration camp or some unmanaged aftermath of a natural disaster.
Take some fascists with you.
You could move up north if you have the funds
They live in Texas, they likely don’t have the funds.
Written by someone that lives in texas.
Yeah that’s not how this plays out. This will only affect states that he wants it to to affect, and when.
Yeah… probably :(
All those hurricane victims that complained about “illegals” getting some FEMA (but it wasn’t FEMA money, not that they cared) money got their wish. They won’t get any more FEMA money. Maybe nobody else will, either.
Florida’s about to be unaffordable for millions of Americans. FEMA’s NFIP program had been disproportionately keeping cost of flood insurance low for millions of people in hurricane/flood regions along the Gulf coast, but now the market alone will dictate rates if FEMA is taken out of the picture.
Don’t worry. They’ll make sure handouts to red states won’t stop. It’s only blue states that’ll get fucked.
now the market alone will dictate rates if FEMA is taken out of the picture
Nah, Florida will just pass a law making it illegal for insurers to leave the state. Surely that will work!
They’d save more effort by making it illegal for hurricanes to hit Florida. Borrow Trump’s marker and make them hit Alabama instead.
Tornado, hurricane, and fire seasons, here we go! Jippy kayey! Modafakas!
Trump: fuck the poor, they’re on their own.
The replacement will have jump shot training sessions with paper towels.
