The report, citing anonymous sources, suggested the agency’s response was delayed by bureaucracy that required Noem to sign off on any contract and grant over $100,000 due to a Trump administration cost-saving rule.
“This reporting is an unparalleled display of activist journalism and distracts from the robust, coordinated federal response led by Secretary Noem that has saved over 900+ lives,” DHS said in a post on X.
“While these ‘journalists’ slept comfortably in D.C., Secretary Noem deployed to Texas, working day and night to approve every possible need that search and rescue workers had. Within moments of the flooding in Texas, DHS assets, including the U.S. Coast Guard, tactical Border Patrol units, and FEMA personnel, surged into unprecedented action alongside Texas first responders. The U.S. Coast Guard alone rescued over 230 Americans,” the agency added.
The article alleged that the spending rule strips the agency of its autonomy.
“We were operating under a clear set of guidance: lean forward, be prepared, anticipate what the state needs, and be ready to deliver it,” a longtime FEMA official said. “That is not as clear of an intent for us at the moment.”
The article also suggested that Noem “didn’t authorize FEMA’s deployment of Urban Search and Rescue teams until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began.”
DHS told the outlet that FEMA is shifting away from being “bloated” to being “lean” in a statement.
“FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,” spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said. “The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades.”
While FEMA’s response and local officials’ and meteorologists’ predictions of the storm have been debated, some regard the rain as a freak phenomenon that struck at the wrong time. Many people, including hundreds of campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, were celebrating the Fourth of July weekend when heavy rains hit, rapidly flooding the area overnight.
Warnings had been in effect before the flooding hit, but many were unaware. As a result, many people have died or are missing in Central Texas, and the world has mourned the effects. President Donald Trump is set to visit the area later this week and has approved a disaster declaration.
DHS said Noem is leading a “first-of-a-kind” approach that it describes as a “breakthrough in how FEMA supports state-led disaster recovery.”
“@Sec_Noem is leading a historic, first-of-its-kind approach to disaster funding: putting states first by providing upfront recovery support — moving money faster than ever and jump-starting recovery. This is a breakthrough in how FEMA supports state-led disaster recovery,” DHS said.
At least 120 people have been killed in the floods, with more than 173 missing.
CENTRAL TEXAS FLASH FLOODS LEAVE MORE THAN 100 DEAD: WHAT TO KNOW
CNN’s reporting has drawn the ire of the Trump administration a few times over the past month. Aside from the Texas flood story, the outlet also published an interview highlighting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement tracker, which the government argued puts officers in danger. It also published partial findings from a preliminary report on Trump’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which cast doubt on their effectiveness. Trump and Noem have weighed whether it is possible to prosecute CNN for the latter two stories.
The Washington Examiner reached out to CNN for comment, but did not receive a response.
