The House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations is set to have a hearing next Wednesday on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to Hurricane Helene, which hit North Carolina last fall. And the subcommittee plans to have a special guest testify: country music legend Eric Church.
According to a hearing notice, Church is expected to be one of four witnesses to testify before the subcommittee.
The subcommittee has decided to examine FEMA’s “ongoing efforts to deliver assistance to Americans impacted by devastating storms in North Carolina,” it said in a statement. Additionally, members “will examine reform opportunities at FEMA to ensure taxpayer funds at the agency are being used effectively and efficiently.”
Church, who was born and raised in North Carolina, is the president and co-founder of Chief Cares Fund. The organization, named after his 2011 album, “Chief,” is “currently directing all its charitable efforts to the communities who were directly impacted by the destruction from Hurricane Helene,” according to its website.
The country music star has dedicated much of the past months since the hurricane to helping raise money for relief and recovery efforts. He has put on a festival where the proceeds went toward North Carolina’s recovery, used his social media platform to raise awareness and wrote a song titled “Darkest Hour (Helene Edit)” dedicated to North Carolina and its recovery.
Other witnesses slated for the hearing include David Jackson, president and CEO of Boone Area Chamber of Commerce; Jeff Howell, former director of Yancey County North Carolina Emergency Management; and Chris Currie, director of Homeland Security and Justice at the Government Accountability Office.
Members of Congress have been critical of FEMA’s response and recovery efforts over the past hurricane season, but the response in North Carolina has received the most scrutiny.
President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order instituting a review council of FEMA’s relief efforts. Vice President JD Vance has said the agency’s emergency response has been “broken” in some cases.
“The thing that I heard most when I was in western North Carolina before the inauguration is that there are people who wanted to put trailers or other temporary housing in particular areas of western North Carolina, but they couldn’t because FEMA had designated these particular areas to be ineligible for the type of assistance that would allow people to put that temporary housing in the first place,” Vance said in January. “That’s another example of the sort of thing that’s broken about the federal response.”
Rep. Pete Sessions, the subcommittee’s chair, said the agency has fallen behind on its goals.
“FEMA has a responsibility to utilize every tool at their disposal to deliver aid to the countless Americans still in need,” Sessions said in a statement. “In the aftermath of these deadly storms, it has become clear that reports of delays in critical assistance and unclear communication can overshadow FEMA’s mission.”
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Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.