{"id":1052951,"date":"2025-05-20T13:58:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1052951"},"modified":"2025-05-20T13:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:58:21","slug":"as-trump-and-republicans-slash-fema-funding-mayor-of-st-louis-says-community-desperate-for-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/as-trump-and-republicans-slash-fema-funding-mayor-of-st-louis-says-community-desperate-for-help\/","title":{"rendered":"As Trump and Republicans Slash FEMA Funding, Mayor of St. Louis Says Community \u201cDesperate\u201d for Help"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, the mayor of St. Louis revealed that FEMA has yet to arrive<\/a> in storm-battered Missouri and that her community is \u201cdesperate\u201d for help. This follows Trump and Elon Musk gutting FEMA, to the point where an internal review<\/a> last week found that FEMA was \u201cnot ready\u201d for hurricane season and other natural disaster responses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to Trump\u2019s push to gut FEMA when Americans need it the most, <\/em>DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDonald Trump talked a big game on the campaign trail about helping Americans recover from devastating natural disasters \u2014 but it looks like he lied again. The Trump administration gutted FEMA and is now asleep at the wheel as families in Kentucky, Missouri, and Virginia face ruin from storms and tornadoes. Stepping up for communities in dire need is a basic government obligation, yet Trump has turned his back on them. Natural disasters are apolitical, but apparently the price of getting Trump\u2019s attention these days is too steep for folks whose towns have been destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the Trump administration\u2019s cuts to FEMA, urgent support to communities ravaged by natural disasters has been delayed. With more natural disasters on the horizon, experts warn families will be left behind. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana Cabrero, MSNBC<\/a>: \u201cThe mayor of St. Louis tells me FEMA has yet to arrive and her community is desperate for help.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cMusk Targeted FEMA. Storm-Battered Communities Are Paying a Price.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[DHS Secretary Kristi] Noem\u2019s office has directed staff to develop a plan to disband the agency \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not clear what government agencies,<\/strong> if any, would take over FEMA\u2019s role delivering aid to communities<\/strong> hit by disasters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201c\u2018We\u2019re not preparing\u2019: As Trump officials vow to eliminate FEMA, the agency is already in turmoil<\/strong>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast week, FEMA employees received an email titled \u2018Hiring Update,\u2019<\/strong> which outlined a new process, effective immediately, requiring that the majority of the agency\u2019s workers, many of whom hold 2-to-4-year term positions, be directly approved by Secretary Noem\u2019s team<\/strong> in order to be renewed for another term. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of preparing for hurricane season<\/strong>, one official told CNN, they\u2019ve spent days checking workers\u2019 renewal dates and working on justifications for their roles.<\/strong> \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore than $100 billion of previously awarded grant money and disaster assistance is currently frozen at FEMA<\/strong>. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNearly all FEMA payments outside of individual disaster assistance have been paused, preventing states, localities and nonprofits from being reimbursed.<\/strong> That includes entities like fire departments<\/strong> that are frequently awarded federal grants to pay for equipment and staffing as well as disaster recovery money to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the wildfires in California<\/strong>.\u201d  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABC News<\/a>: \u201cFEMA ‘not ready’ for hurricane season, internal review finds\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told staff members on Thursday that he believes President Donald Trump is a bold man with a bold vision for the agency — but that FEMA doesn’t yet have a full plan to tackle hurricane season. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018I would say we’re about 80 or 85% there,\u2019 <\/strong>Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson told staff on a conference call, parts of which were obtained by ABC. \u2018The next week, we will close that gap and get to probably 97-98% of a plan. We’ll never have 100% of a plan.<\/strong> Even if we did have 100% of a plan, a plan never survives first contact. However, we will do our best to make sure that the plan is all-encompassing.\u2019 \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood, thus FEMA is not ready,\u2019<\/strong> according to the document.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cNew Noem plan leaves FEMA on the chopping block\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNoem told Trump administration officials in a meeting Tuesday at Department of Homeland Security headquarters that she wants to eliminate FEMA\u2019s role in funding long-term rebuilding efforts and halt multibillion-dollar grant programs that help communities prepare for disasters.<\/strong> \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe meeting \u2026 occurred one day after Noem said publicly that \u2018we\u2019re going to eliminate FEMA.\u2019<\/strong>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cTrump officials working to strip FEMA\u2019s role in disaster recovery by Oct. 1\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[A] number of possibilities were floated to strip FEMA of<\/strong> some of its key functions, such as helping rebuild after disasters strike<\/strong> and<\/strong>, according to one person, funding resilience initiatives that help communities prepare for disasters.<\/strong> \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe closed-door push to abolish or substantially cut FEMA\u2019s authorities \u2026 comes barely two months ahead of the start of the Atlantic hurricane season. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFEMA reimburses state and local governments for much of the cost of disaster response and recovery.<\/strong> Without that federal money, governments may need to raid their budgets for education, health care and other areas in order to pay<\/strong> for emergency response \u2014 and even then might struggle to cope with mounting disasters.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, the mayor of St. Louis revealed that FEMA has yet to arrive in storm-battered Missouri and that her community is \u201cdesperate\u201d for help. This follows Trump and Elon Musk gutting FEMA, to the point where an internal review last week found that FEMA was \u201cnot ready\u201d for hurricane season and other natural disaster responses.  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1052951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAs Trump and Republicans Slash FEMA Funding, Mayor of St. Louis Says Community \u201cDesperate\u201d for Help - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/as-trump-and-republicans-slash-fema-funding-mayor-of-st-louis-says-community-desperate-for-help\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T17:58:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T17:58:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/as-trump-and-republicans-slash-fema-funding-mayor-of-st-louis-says-community-desperate-for-help\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/as-trump-and-republicans-slash-fema-funding-mayor-of-st-louis-says-community-desperate-for-help\/\",\"name\":\"As Trump and Republicans Slash FEMA Funding, Mayor of St. Louis Says Community \u201cDesperate\u201d for Help - 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