Senators Want Markwayne Mullin to Rethink How the Administration Runs FEMA

Lawmakers are looking at Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to be the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security as an opportunity to make the Federal Emergency Management Agency more efficient.

Mullin, who is slated to testify at a confirmation hearing Wednesday and who the Trump administration is pushing to have in the role by the end of the month, will face senators from both parties who have long been frustrated with the way FEMA has functioned, particularly under the second Trump administration.

“I have a lot of issues with FEMA,” Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri who serves on the Senate’s homeland security committee, told NOTUS. “That agency, in my experience just in my state, consistently is slow to get on the ground. They are slow to approve individual assistance. They’re terrible at communicating with citizens and victims who have been affected. And all of that needs to change.”

Under her tenure as DHS secretary, Kristi Noem faced backlash for implementing a rule requiring all expenses $100,000 or above at FEMA to be personally approved by her. The rule frustrated lawmakers and employees, creating delays for hazard-mitigation grants, COVID-19 reimbursements for hospitals and disaster unemployment assistance.

President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that he was removing Noem from her position. But that wasn’t until after a searing set of hearings on Capitol Hill, including one in which Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, ripped into Noem for her “failure” to lead the department and for delays in disaster aid to his state.

“Part of what we’re talking about is FEMA — getting a leader there, let that organization run itself and not repeat the mistake of Noem by tinkering in something she knew nothing about,” Tillis told NOTUS. “Markwayne is smart enough to know he knows what he doesn’t know.”

FEMA employees said Noem’s expense policy created delays in disaster aid to states. Some of the highest profile examples include the deadly Texas floods last summer and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene.

Sen. Ted Budd, another Republican from North Carolina, told NOTUS that he hoped Mullin would be able to facilitate “quicker aid to western North Carolina.”

“We’ll have those discussions as soon as he’s confirmed,” Budd added.

The White House did not answer questions about how Mullin would run FEMA. But he’s widely expected to be confirmed into the role.

“Senator Mullin is perfectly suited to lead the Department of Homeland Security and work closely with President Trump to continue building on his many successes,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “Whether it be protecting the homeland from bad actors, stopping dangerous drugs from flowing into American communities, or removing the worst-of-the-worst criminal illegal aliens, Senator Mullin will work tirelessly to implement the President’s agenda.”

Under Noem, FEMA underwent changes to how it handled disaster response more widely. In May, FEMA ended its door-to-door canvassing for survivors in disaster-prone areas. Noem also attempted to terminate FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which decreases the risk of natural disasters. And FEMA employees said the additional red tape at the agency decreased morale.

“If Markwayne Mullin gets approved and he is in this role, [I hope] that he meets with all the governors, pays attention to the hurricane-prone states,” one former FEMA official, who served during the Biden administration, told NOTUS. “We’re also in active tornado season right now. And the fact that there were stopgaps and from delivering aid, I would hope that he would look at this from a different light and say, ‘I’ve got a lot of cleaning up to do following Kristi Noem’s tenure.’”

There’s a concern among Democrats that even if they’re able to convince Mullin to work with them, it won’t matter in the grander scheme of an administration that wants to pare back the role of the federal government. Still, they hoped that he’d be an advocate, especially considering that his home state of Oklahoma, which is prone to tornadoes, has received millions in disaster aid in recent years.

“Work with us,” Sen. Andy Kim said. “If he wants to engage on FEMA, there’s opportunities for discussions.”

Ahead of Noem’s firing, Pablo José Hernández, a nonvoting member of the House from Puerto Rico, introduced legislation to remove Noem’s policy on approving disaster aid reimbursements that totalled $100,000 or more. Hernández told NOTUS that Puerto Rico’s relationship with FEMA had improved since 2017, but the region is still awaiting funding from hurricanes Irma and Maria and other disasters.

“I wouldn’t say I’m confident. But I would say that I’m optimistic because this is a bipartisan challenge. You have mayors that are Democrats and Republicans complaining about this,” Hernández said last week about whether he thinks change is possible at FEMA after Noem’s ousting. “Noem has such a poor performance that any change can make us slightly more optimistic than before.”

Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, told NOTUS that reform at FEMA is one of the things he wants to talk to Mullin about ahead of the chamber-wide confirmation vote.

“The Trump administration has dragged its feet on a number of FEMA priorities. I’ve had to advocate time and time again for my state just to deliver resources that have already been approved and legislated by the Congress,” Warnock said. “And that’s one of the things in Congress ought to be bipartisan — commitment to making sure that it’s as efficient as possible.”