Daily Express: Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem explodes over ‘false’ FEMA failure report as flood deaths soar

The DHS head has been accused of being unprepared to handle the natural disaster, which killed 129 people and left 160 missing, but she denies the claims.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem accused The New York Times of politicizing the deadly Texas floods following the publication of a report that sharply criticized her handling of the catastrophic disaster.

“It’s just false,” [Bimbo #2] Noem said about the damning report on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday. “It’s discouraging that during this time, when we have such a loss of life and so many people’s lives have turned upside down, that people are playing politics with this because the response time was immediate.”

The investigation revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which operates under the DHS, left “nearly two-thirds” of thousands of desperate victims without answers when they placed distress calls during the July Fourth weekend deluge in Central Texas, a disaster that has taken 129 lives while 160 remain missing. It came as an extraordinary throwback photo revealed Noem’s face BEFORE plastic surgery – but she still denies any procedures.

[Bimbo #2] Noem, who critics have nicknamed “ICE Barbie” due to her tendency to dress up for immigration-related photo-ops, has come under intense fire for her management of the event, especially regarding the overhauls she has implemented at the massive federal agency.

Numerous detractors, including Texas legislators, have charged her with being ill-equipped to manage the natural disaster, allegations she has forcefully rejected.

The former South Dakota governor terminated “hundreds of contractors at call centers” as part of cost-cutting measures, along with other modifications, that purportedly weakened the federal emergency response to the calamity.

CNN reports that she is facing allegations of hindering search and rescue operations by instituting a new policy requiring her personal approval for any contracts or grants exceeding $100,000.

She has forcefully denied the findings of the report, which she insinuates was driven by hidden political motives.

“I’m not sure where it came from,” [Bimbo #2] Noem told NBC. “The individuals who are giving you information out of FEMA, I’d love to have them put their names behind it because anonymous attacks to politicize the situation is completely wrong.

“The false reporting has been something that is inappropriate and it’s something that I think we need to clear up.”

In an ironic twist, she proceeded to make a political statement herself, asserting that her management of the natural disaster surpassed what the Biden administration could have achieved.

“This response was by far the best response we’ve seen out of FEMA, the best response we’ve seen out of the federal government in many, many years and certainly much better than what we saw under Joe Biden,” she claimed.

Amidst the devastating aftermath of the floods, there has been growing concern that U.S. President Donald Trump might act on his repeated threats to dismantle FEMA. Nonetheless, [Bimbo #2] Noem addressed these worries, arguing that such fears are unfounded.

“The president recognizes that FEMA should not exist in the way that it always has been,” she remarked. “It needs to be redeployed, in a new way, and that’s what we did during this response.”

Addressing concerns, she also noted that other federal resources can be utilized in addition to FEMA.

Kristi “Bimbo #2” Noem is a pathological liar who couldn’t tell the truth if her life depended on it.

https://www.the-express.com/news/politics/177412/kristi-noem-fema-report-response

Raw Story: ‘Heck of a job’: Kristi Noem hammered in vicious attack from Texas newspaper

As the horror of the Texas floods continues to reverberate around the state, a major newspaper’s editorial board aimed a brutal attack on the Donald Trump government’s response.

And it saved a particularly vicious putdown for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Starting with praise for the way Texas’ community has pulled together to support itself, the Houston Chronicle quickly showed its admiration did not extend to the nation’s leaders.

“Judging by recent reporting on the Hill Country floods, however, some officials in Washington are more focused on saving cash than helping Texans recover,” the board wrote.

It listed what it saw as failures in the days after a girls’ summer camp was deluged, more than 130 people were declared dead and many more missing.

Among them was the Federal Emergency Management Agency “bizarrely” laying off workers at its disaster call center days after the flood — leaving thousands of affected community members unable to get help.

“Internal emails even show that officials knew they were failing at their task and needed the secretary to extend the call center contracts,” the Chronicle wrote. “We still do not have a decision, waiver or signature from the DHS Secretary,” one FEMA employee wrote in a July 8 email to colleagues.”

The editorial board declared, “Leaving disaster victims on hold isn’t governmental efficiency. It’s heartless.”

But it went on, hitting Noem for reportedly waiting 72 hours to send help because of “self-imposed red tape.”

“Noem has mandated that she personally review and approve expenses over $100,000 — including, say, deploying search-and-rescue teams after a flood that left more than 100 dead,” the board wrote.

‘It’s true Texas has done an admirable job bolstering our own disaster response,” the board continued.

But, it concluded, “Given the compounding scandals, Texans can be forgiven for any flashbacks to FEMA’s disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina.

“ … Even the president’s typically sharp tongue seems to have been replaced by embarrassing Bushisms. Trump’s claim that Noem was “right on the ball” is just his version of “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

https://www.rawstory.com/texas-flood-noem

Alternet: ‘We don’t exist’: Flood victims ‘abandoned’ after Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem didn’t tell them to evacuate

Morgan and Malcom Speichinger still live in a house that was damaged in a flood one year ago, because they have no better option.

“If we could afford to move, we would,” Morgan said.

Three days of rain last June 20-22 in southeast South Dakota surpassed 17 inches in some locations. Local and state authorities implemented a half-century-old diversion plan to handle record-high water that was flowing down the Big Sioux River toward Sioux City. They built a temporary levee across Interstate 29 that tied in with permanent levees to divert water into McCook Lake.

The water was supposed to flow through the lake and drain toward the nearby Missouri River. Instead, on the night of June 23, it overwhelmed the lake and inundated many of the homes around it. Many residents said the flood surge came suddenly, after they’d received little to no warning.

“That’s what we’re preparing for,” [Bimbo #2] Noem said. “If we don’t, then that’s wonderful that they don’t have an impact, but they could see water flowing into McCook Lake.”

After the press conference, [Bimbo #2] Noem flew to a political fundraiser in Tennessee, which is where she was when the flood surge hit McCook Lake and sent people fleeing. During the aftermath, [Bimbo #2] Noem refused to deploy the National Guard to help clean up the area, after she’d sent Guard troops multiple times to help Texas secure its border with Mexico.

Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem — not there when you need her!

https://www.alternet.org/dakota-flood

2paragraphs: Gavin Newsom Calls Trump “A Truly Disturbed Person” After “Hatred” Comment

At the White House, President Donald Trump was asked by a reporter: “Will your recent dust-ups with Governor Newsom impact additional wildfire relief out there? They’ve requested 40 billion.”

The President of the United States replied, “Yeah, maybe,” and said of California Governor Gavin Newsom, “The man’s incompetent. He shouldn’t have fires like that.”

This buffoon is our president?

Irish Star: Acting head of FEMA told staff he didn’t know the US had a hurricane season day after it began

Acting head of FEMA David Richardson reportedly told employees that he didn’t know the US has a hurricane season a day after it officially began as experts sound alarm bells

Duh!!!!!!!!!!

The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) left staff members alarmed on Monday when he reportedly told them that he was unaware that the US had a hurricane season.

David Richardson, who has been overseeing FEMA since May, made the comments during a briefing with staff members, a day after the 2025 hurricane season officially began, two people who heard the remarks told The New York Times. The staff members said it was unclear whether he was serious or not.

Richardson served in the Marines and worked in the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office before joining FEMA but has no formal disaster-management experience. His comments come after some of the agency’s workers had expressed concerns about his lack of experience in emergency management.

How dumb can they get?

https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/fema-head-staff-hurricane-season-35326926

Miami Herald: GOP Senator Confronts His Party Over Disaster Aid

Recent tornadoes and severe storms have reportedly caused seven fatalities and over $1.5 billion in damages in Missouri. Sen. Josh Hawley visited the hardest-hit areas in North St. Louis City and called for immediate assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Hawley emphasized the importance of federal aid in supporting recovery efforts in the aftermath of the disaster.

Trump’s administration has proposed shifting disaster response responsibilities to states. FEMA is reportedly undergoing significant changes. This has fueled concerns about delayed or denied aid.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-senator-confronts-his-party-over-disaster-aid/ss-AA1FSGOd


Rolling Stone: GOP Senator Begs for Disaster Aid as FEMA Snubs Another Red State

Several conservative states have been forced to wait for disaster relief, with lawmakers publicly groveling for federal assistance

Senators grilled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem today over her management of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and how the agency — which President Donald Trump has sought to dismantle — is responding to a series of devastating storms across the southern United States. 

During a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked [Bimbo #2] Noem what she would do about pending federal disaster declaration requests for the state of Missouri — which has been wracked by a series of deadly tornadoes — that have not been approved by the president. Mississippi, which is still recovering from extreme weather events in March, is also waiting for approval on months-old disaster relief declarations. 

“The state has pending three requests for major disaster declarations from earlier storms we’ve lost over a dozen people. Well, actually, if you count the folks we lost just on Friday, we’ve lost almost 20 people now in major storms just in the last two months in Missouri,” Hawley said. 

“Will you commit to helping, for those three major disaster declaration requests that are pending, will you expedite those, Secretary [Bimbo #2] Noem, and get those in front of the president, get those approved?” Hawley asked. “We are desperate for the assistance in Missouri.” 

The response from Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem was more of the customary lip service:

[Bimbo #2] Noem replied that she would make sure the applications were put before Trump as soon as possible, and agreed to expedite individual assistance for qualified Missourians impacted by the recent storms. 

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/josh-hawley-begs-trump-administration-fema-aid-missouri-1235343815

Rolling Stone: Trump’s FEMA Denies North Carolina’s Request for Hurricane Helene Aid

The president repeatedly bashed the Biden administration’s response to the disaster

Late in the 2024 campaign cycle, parts of western North Carolina were devastated by Hurricane HeleneDonald Trump accused former President Joe Biden of abandoning the region and mishandling the response to the crisis. The disaster in North Carolina became the jumping point for a myriad of conspiracies and attacks by Republicans against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FAMA). Trump vowed he would improve disaster responses as president. 

That was then.

This is now:

Now, four months into his administration North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, has become the latest lawmaker from a disaster-ravaged state who has been forced to beg the president to provide much-needed aid. 

On Friday, Stein published a video on social media informing the public that the Trump administration had denied the state’s request for FEMA to honor a Biden-era commitment to pay for 100 percent of debris removal costs. 

I guess King Donald changed his mind.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fema-denies-north-carolina-request-hurricane-helene-aid-1235347521


Raw Story: Trump’s FEMA thumbs nose at state that backed him 3 times: ‘Gonna cost a lot’

Under President Donald Trump, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has turned down a request from a storm-ravaged state that narrowly voted for him three times.

Western North Carolina saw massive devastation last year from Hurricane Helene, which killed over 100 people and left the city of Asheville, along with a number of small communities in the Appalachian Mountains, struggling to pick up the pieces after flooding in areas that had hardly ever seen floods before. At the time, Trump supporters spread baseless conspiracy theories that the federal government was ignoring communities there, or only giving aid to Democratic areas, and Trump himself vowed to improve emergency management.

According to Rolling Stone, however, Trump’s administration is now denying an extension of a commitment to pay the full amount for a vital portion of the recovery process.

See above for the Rolling Stone article.

https://www.rawstory.com/fema-north-carolina

Associated Press: Trump administration releases people to shelters it threatened to prosecute for aiding migrants

The Trump administration has continued releasing people charged with being in the country illegally to nongovernmental shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border after telling those organizations that providing migrants with temporary housing and other aid may violate a law used to prosecute smugglers.Here's The Average Price of a 6-Hour Gutter Upgrade in Minneapolis

Border shelters, which have long provided lodging, meals and transportation to the nearest bus station or airport, were rattled by a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that raised “significant concerns” about potentially illegal activity and demanded detailed information in a wide-ranging investigation. FEMA suggested shelters may have committed felony offenses against bringing people across the border illegally or transporting them within the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continued to ask shelters in Texas and Arizona to house people even after the March 11 letter, putting them in the awkward position of doing something that FEMA appeared to say might be illegal. Both agencies are part of the Department of Homeland Security.

https://apnews.com/article/border-shelters-laredo-phoenix-trump-releases-afc2f4d2ca786161e7bb4b03f54033fa

Reuters: Exclusive-Hacker who breached communications app used by Trump aide stole data from across US government

A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broader swathe of American officials than has previously been reported, according to a Reuters review, potentially raising the stakes of a breach that has already drawn questions about data security in the Trump administration.

Reuters identified more than 60 unique government users of the messaging platform TeleMessage in a cache of leaked data provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a U.S. nonprofit whose stated mission is to archive hacked and leaked documents in the public interest. The trove included material from disaster responders, customs officials, several U.S. diplomatic staffers, at least one White House staffer and members of the Secret Service. The messages reviewed by Reuters covered a roughly day-long period of time ending on May 4, and many of them were fragmentary.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hacker-who-breached-communications-app-used-by-trump-aide-stole-data-across-us-2025-05-21

Alternet: ‘Not one peep from Trump’: Tornado-ravaged city’s mayor pleads for federal assistance

At least 28 people across three states were killed when tornadoes struck Kentucky, Missouri, and Virginia on Friday, with a governor and a mayor calling them among the worst they’ve ever seen. Unseen, however, has been any acknowledgment or support from President Donald Trump or, according to some reports, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“What we need right now is federal assistance,” declared St. Louis, Missouri Mayor Cara Spencer on MSNBC (video below) on Monday, “we need federal assistance.”

“This is where FEMA and the federal government has got to come in and help communities,” Mayor Spencer urged. “Our city cannot shoulder this alone. The State of Missouri cannot shoulder this alone. We need partners at the national level, at the federal level to step up and help.”

Spencer explained, “this is what the federal government is for. We need your help, we need the help of the broader community.”

“FEMA has not been on the ground—we do not have confirmed assistance from FEMA at this point,” Spencer said. “I do want to say, however, every other level of government has been on the ground with us, helping in every capacity possible. But when you have a disaster of this scale, eight miles of just pure destruction, this tornado didn’t just touch down and leave, this tornado ripped through our community for a full eight miles in the city of St. Louis …

Memo to St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer: Regretfully our self-absorbed Grifter-in-Chief is busy telling Walmart to “eat it” and has no time for us little people.

https://www.alternet.org/the-right-wing/trump-fema-tornadoes