House Democrat: Noem 'has no idea what she's doing'

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) hammered Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem over the federal response to deadly Texas flooding that has killed at least 120 people, claiming Noem has "no idea what she’s doing.” 

“If you look at what happened in Texas, evacuations are done at the local level in coordination with the state. And so, she has no idea what she's doing," he said in a Thursday evening appearance on MSNBC's "The Weeknight."

"The best thing that she can do now is ... sponsor my bill, get FEMA out of homeland, get it away from her, okay, so that we can start reforming and rebuilding the agency,” Moskowitz, who previously served as director of Florida’s emergency management division under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), added.

Moskowitz introduced a bill in late March that would remove the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from DHS and elevate it to a Cabinet-level agency reporting directly to the president. 

“I mean, this is an agency that's literally responsible, right, for the contingency plans for a government, God forbid, we had a major disaster, a war, some, some sort of, you know, you know, unbelievable event. Okay?" the Florida Democrat continued. "And she's breaking it to the point where it can't function."

President Trump praised Noem over the federal response to the devastating Texas floods, where over 160 people are still unaccounted for, amid some backlash over the speed of FEMA’s actions in the Lone Star State. 

“We were there — in fact, she was the first one I saw on television. She was there right from the beginning, and she would not have needed anything," Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker in a phone interview Thursday. "She had the right to do it, but she was literally the first person I saw on television."

The president said Noem was “right on the ball” and has “done a great job.”

He also acknowledged that he did not know anything about recent reports of a FEMA rule requiring the DHS secretary's approval of any grant or contract totaling over $100,000. The officials within the agency created a task force to accelerate the approval process, NBC reported. Noem and department officials have criticized CNN over its reporting, calling it "fake news."

"It’s absolutely trash what they are doing by saying that," Noem said in an interview with Fox News. "Because our Coast Guard, our Border Patrol, BORTAC teams were there immediately. Every single thing they asked for, we were there."

Moskowitz on Thursday said the former South Dakota governor's handling of federal emergency efforts has made him “animated."

“We're supposed to take the politics out of all of this, and that's why I'm so alarmed based on the decisions that she has made, that I really think a lot of people don't know,” he said.

The criticism comes as the Trump administration has floated plans to dismantle FEMA, while also saying that they want to remake the agency. Trump and officials have said they want states to be a bigger factor when responding to natural disasters. 

“If you talk to members of Congress, you talk to Republicans from Louisiana and Mississippi or in Georgia, okay, they want FEMA reformed, but they don't want FEMA removal," Moskowitz said, likely referring to areas where hurricane relief is common. "They're well aware that FEMA is necessary."