Last week, Cameron Hamilton testified on Capitol Hill, and in his capacity as the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he delivered a predictable line to lawmakers: It would be in the public’s interest, he said, if FEMA continued to exist.
A day later, Donald Trump’s team fired the Trump-appointed FEMA director because he failed to toe the party line: The president has said he sees the agency as an unnecessary department that should be “TERMINATED,” and so, one day after his testimony, Hamilton — a lifelong Republican who was actually qualified to lead the agency — found himself out of a job.
He was soon replaced by David Richardson who, on his first day, told FEMA’s staff that he would “run right over” anyone who gets in his way. And while that was an unfortunate start to Richardson’s tenure, as The Wall Street Journal reported, it was hardly his only controversial comment.
The newly appointed head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency acknowledged in private meetings that with two weeks to go until hurricane season, the agency doesn’t yet have a fully formed disaster-response plan. David Richardson, who previously served as a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security and doesn’t have a background in emergency management, told staff he would share a hurricane plan with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after he completes it late next week.
The Journal’s report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, went on to note that the disaster-response plan “is already months behind schedule in its preparations for the hurricane season starting June 1, which is expected to have above-normal activity, according to FEMA employees.”
Reading this, the obvious problem is that the Trump administration — which, again, believes that FEMA should no longer exist — is not at all prepared for hurricane season with two weeks remaining. Indeed, it’s now the responsibility of a FEMA rookie with no background in emergency management to come up with a plan that was due months ago.
The less obvious problem is the degree to which the Journal’s report is part of a larger and ugly picture.
For example, Reuters reported last week that FEMA has “sharply reduced training for state and local emergency managers ahead of the start of the hurricane season on June 1, according to current and former officials, memos seen by Reuters, and three sources familiar with the situation.” Days later, FEMA’s acting chief told the agency’s workforce to expect layoffs soon. What’s more, it’s not just FEMA. The Trump administration has also gutted the National Weather Service, which has already dramatically scaled back its work on behalf of the public, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. To be sure, maybe Americans will get lucky. It’s possible that the United States won’t have to deal with any deadly hurricanes this year — or for that matter, in the coming years — and there won’t be any real-world consequences tied to the administration’s latest moves at FEMA, NWS and NOAA. But as the president and his team move further away from responsible governing and disaster preparedness, counting on good fortune hardly seems like a wise strategy.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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