Trump DHS Nominee Pledging Faster FEMA Response Time Took Over a Month To Request Aid For Her Own State

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, promised an overhaul of FEMA's disaster response times during her Senate confirmation hearing despite it taking over a month for her to request aid for her own state.

Appearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday, Noem criticized FEMA employees, claiming remote work has hampered disaster relief efforts.

"FEMA failed them so miserably," Noem said, referring to the agency's handling of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

"If it's not even a responsibility for them to show up when terrible things happen, what other day-to-day activities are not getting done when they're working from home or not doing their job at all?"

Noem's comments were part of her broader pledge to enforce stricter in-office policies for FEMA workers, a move she argued would improve disaster response efficiency.

This comes as Noem's administration took over a month to request federal aid following unprecedented flooding in South Dakota last summer. The flood caused widespread damage to both homes and businesses. Rather than activating the state's National Guard, she argued that the measure was too costly and should be reserved for what she termed "a true crisis," as reported by The New York Times. Her decision left thousands of residents to deal with the devastation alone.

When Senators pressed Noem on FEMA's impartiality amid Trump-era controversies, like his threats to withhold aid from liberal-led states like wildfire-stricken California, she assured, "There will be no political bias to how disaster relief is delivered to the American people."

Noem also promised to prioritize mass deportations that target individuals with criminal backgrounds and vowed to abolish the CBP One app, a tool migrants use to book asylum appointments.

Her nomination comes at a critical time for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard and border security as natural disasters increase in frequency and severity.