During an interview with CBS News on Monday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) argued that FEMA needs to get faster and is “no longer working” as part of the Department of Homeland Security.
CBS Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett asked, “In his Inaugural Address, President Trump talked down our ability as a federal government to respond to natural disasters. He mentioned North Carolina and California. You were an emergency management official in Florida. Do you agree with that assessment, do you think Trump is wrong to talk down the federal response?”
Moskowitz answered, “Well, let me say this: I have the utmost respect for everyone who works at FEMA. That is a thankless job they have. It’s a department that deals with disaster after disaster, and these guys are working 18-hour days on end, they’re burned out from all of these disasters post-COVID, from COVID, and then just hurricanes and fires and hurricanes and fires. And these folks are America’s first responders. It’s a nonpartisan agency that helps people in their time of need. But I think the President is correct in this respect: I think FEMA is no longer working in Homeland. I think Homeland has become too big, it’s too bureaucratic. … I think FEMA needs to get out of Homeland so that it can get faster.”
He added that FEMA should be a separate agency and “I do think, from the response standpoint, FEMA probably isn’t as fast as they used to be from a response standpoint, but I put the blame on the bureaucracy that is Homeland Security.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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