Mullin Promises DHS Won’t Neglect Western North Carolina

Markwayne Mullin made his first trip of his tenure as secretary of Homeland Security to western North Carolina — aiming to reassure the storm-battered community that his agency will now grant it more support, after months of complaints about his predecessor.

“No one in D.C. is forgetting about it,” Mullin said at a roundtable Tuesday with North Carolina state officials, first responders, lawmakers and Federal Emergency Management Agency staff in Chimney Rock, North Carolina.

North Carolina lawmakers had quickly requested that Mullin visit the region. Sen. Ted Budd said he talked to Mullin about the trip on the Senate floor during his confirmation, and Rep. Chuck Edwards invited him to his district, which covers much of western North Carolina.

Hurricane Helene ravaged western North Carolina in 2024, killing 107 people. For 18 months, state officials have demanded federal funds to repair homes and infrastructure.

“The president made it very clear when we were going through the nomination process that this is where he wanted my first stop to be because he said there’s still a tremendous amount of work to go,” Mullin said.

Rep. Tim Moore, who represents Chimney Rock in Congress, said that Mullin has already sped up resources.

Mullin’s visit, Moore said, “sends a very important message to the folks who live here that Washington is not forgetting this area and continues to invest resources.”

The secretary’s trip to Chimney Rock offered a contrast to former Secretary Kristi Noem’s contentious tenure at DHS, which included, at times, harsh rebukes from the state’s lawmakers.

Budd placed holds on all DHS nominees in response to FEMA delaying billions of dollars in aid for Hurricane Helene recovery. Sen. Thom Tillis blasted Noem at a Senate judiciary hearing for the slow trickle of funds to the state.

“The big question that keeps coming up is, have our Western North Carolinians been forgotten about? And the answer is clearly no,” Budd told NOTUS in a statement. “You can see from the attention that started 18 months ago, and you can see from the attention that we’re still getting.”

He acknowledged that “we’ve seen some hiccups at DHS.”

“But we’ve got a great Secretary that the President has picked, the Senate has confirmed. And even only two weeks in, he’s already released $134 million+ of public assistance. But we’ve got a lot more to go,” he said.

FEMA gave more than $26 million to the state on Monday to buy 75 damaged residential properties in three counties. Mullin also asked FEMA to clear the backlog of buyout requests and expedite approvals, per a FEMA press release.

Budd praised Mullin at the roundtable for his attention to the backlog and reversal of a Noem-era policy requiring that the secretary approve any project that cost more than $100,000.

“A lot of this, I’d add, is just leadership,” Budd said. “Because we had the 100k threshold before, and that was really creating a bottleneck at the top level, but now that’s been pushed down to trustworthy staff again.”

Other roundtable attendees praised Mullin for the attention and money he’s directed toward the region.

“Hearing him talk about an interest in urgency, in moving projects forward at a good pace is certainly very well received, given the need to continue to move quickly,” Matt Calabria, director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, said in an interview. “I think that what we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks is a solid step in the right direction.”

Those at the roundtable also reminded the secretary that the region is still waiting for more Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds.

“Imagine a family up here in one of these 50 hazard mitigation buyout properties, some of which you’ll drop by today. They’ve been waiting for 18 months, and there’s probably in the housing assistance provided by the federal government, they can’t go to the next thing until this completes,” said John Mitchell, Henderson County manager.

Mullin also addressed questions about President Donald Trump’s vision for FEMA, which at one point included eliminating it. Mullin said the president is trying to “reform” FEMA.

“We want to make sure we get it to the state faster, and not look at FEMA as being the first responder, but look at FEMA as supporting the first responders.”

The secretary also took questions from reporters about the Trump administration’s potential plan to pull customs officers from airports in sanctuary cities, which would effectively cancel international flights to the country’s busiest travel destinations.

“If cities are going to sit there and say that they’re not going to enforce immigration policies, then I’ll repeat myself and say it doesn’t make any sense for us to process international travelers through that city,” Mullin said.

When asked if the president knew about that idea, Mullin replied, “We’ve had very top-line conversations, but I imagine this conversation will come up today when I’m talking to him.” Mullin said he planned to meet with Trump Tuesday to brief him on 22 other disasters around the country.

Volunteer firefighters from Chimney Rock who responded when the hurricane hit were also present at the roundtable. Mullin asked one of them about a tattered American flag hanging on the wall. Chris Melton, the department’s chief, grew emotional telling the story of how a police officer found the flag in the river and gave it to him.

He figured the secretary’s visit was a good time to display it, although it needed a frame.

“Would you allow me to pay for that frame?” Mullin asked. He turned to his staff. “Make sure I get the bill.”