FEMA Needs to Be Fixed – Here’s What Donald Trump Can Do

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President Trump’s pick for FEMA Administrator is arguably his most important sub-cabinet appointment. FEMA does some things well, but the press and public only notice when the agency embarrasses itself in fundamental ways, which it often has under the Biden administration. The new administrator must be willing to take on several systemic problems.

First, take a hard look at how and why disasters are staffed. For example, at last count, the State of Florida has eight open disasters, dating back several years, with more than 2000 FEMA staff in the state. These staff are paid to travel there (and to travel home occasionally), and all are paid generous per diems. Many serve in lower-level positions, so the expense to have them deployed on-site often exceeds what they are paid. Almost none of them have any real reason to be on the ground in Florida because the work they do could easily be done at FEMA headquarters or regional offices.

Second, FEMA engages when a state is theoretically unable to financially manage a disaster with its own funds, but these thresholds are extraordinarily low and force FEMA to “spend billions to pay out millions.” Those minimums should be substantially increased.  In addition, in most cases block grants to the states (with follow-up audits) are a much better model than sending thousands of FEMA staff into a state for months or years. Most states – particularly Gulf Coast states that routinely deal with disasters – are better able to handle their own disasters without the burden and distraction from daily oversight by FEMA staff.

Third, FEMA should reimagine what the Reservist Corps should look like. Currently, a large percentage of reservists work in low-level, $20/hour type positions, and their capabilities are commensurate with their pay. It would be worth studying, for example, whether doubling reservist pay and halving staffing levels might yield a better, more efficient cadre.

Finally, the Agency should immediately drop its current strategic plan, which leads off with the goal to “instill equity” in emergency management, implying that FEMA treats certain groups less fairly than others (or ignores them altogether). This DEI doctrine ignores that underserved, needy populations already garner the most attention from FEMA. Responsible homeowners in well-to-do neighborhoods carry insurance and have the resources to relocate during recovery. They do not need much from FEMA and aren’t generally eligible for assistance, which goes to the neediest (and, in the case of homeowners who don’t carry insurance, the most irresponsible). In other words, “equity” is already built into the response equation.

FEMA spends millions of dollars and untold time training and enforcing these DEI ideals. At the very same time as the “don’t serve people with Trump signs in Florida” debacle a few weeks ago, FEMA required thousands of employees to take part in hours of video DEI training, costing tens of thousands of dollars and taking FEMA staff way from helping survivors. 

These DEI concepts have also led to massive increases in internal EEOC complaints from FEMA employees, who feel aggrieved by any small slight. FEMA reservists, who make up much of the staff at disaster sites, have very few employment rights (they are only paid when deployed; they have no right to be, or to remain, deployed, etc.). But many of them have created lucrative side businesses by filing complaints on the way out of almost every deployment.  Most of these cases fail, but FEMA has paid millions to settle these cases. FEMA should take a hardline stance going forward and stop rewarding them to go away.

Finally, the new Administrator must destroy the cancerous culture that encourages staff to think it’s acceptable to help only those who vote the right way. FEMA’s mission is to help our countrymen who need help after a disaster.  Full stop. 

The current FEMA administrator blamed “one FEMA employee” for the Trump sign debacle, but it’s laughable to think that a single, lower-level employee came up with the concept on her own and felt comfortable instructing her staff to ignore houses with Trump signs. She clearly thought she had the direct, or at least tacit, approval from her superiors in the field or FEMA headquarters to do so.  These people need to be found and fired.     

President-elect Trump campaigned on the ideal of reimagining, cutting, and streamlining the federal government. Under the guidance of a tough and creative administrator, FEMA presents a target-rich environment for success.

Christopher E. Hagerup is a Senior Advisor to the National Sheriffs Association, a former Trump appointee, and the former Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at FEMA under President George W. Bush.