FEMA, wildfires loom giant in Noem listening to

Democrats on the Senate Homeland Safety Committee pressed Kristi Noem, President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of Homeland Safety, on whether or not she would apply circumstances to or withhold catastrophe assist primarily based on politics at her affirmation listening to Friday.

If confirmed, Noem, the previous governor of South Dakota, would take workplace as wildfires ravage California. Each Trump and Noem have positioned the blame for the devastating fires on Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a Trump critic and frequent goal, and a number of GOP lawmakers have urged circumstances needs to be hooked up to any federal assist. In his first time period, Trump disregarded a request for wildfire assist from one other rival, then-Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D).

In a largely low-key listening to, Noem stated unequivocally that she wouldn’t politicize assist as head of the Division of Homeland Safety, a division that features the Federal Emergency Administration Company. Nonetheless, she was cagier on whether or not she would obey or refuse a directive from Trump to do the identical.

“I will deliver the programs according to the law, and that it will be done with no political bias,” Noem stated, including that “every American deserves to be there and have disaster relief, the same as their neighbors.”

Beneath questioning from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), nevertheless, she averted answering whether or not she would defy an order from Trump to withhold assist primarily based on the politics of the recipients. Noem responded she wouldn’t reply “hypotheticals,” with Blumenthal countering that there have been stories of such actions by Trump in his first time period.

Noem is more likely to be confirmed within the Republican-majority Senate, and her listening to capped off a marathon week of hearings forward of Trump’s inauguration Monday. Inside secretary nominee Doug Burgum obtained bipartisan plaudits at his listening to earlier than the Senate Vitality and Pure Assets Committee on Thursday. Vitality secretary nominee Chris Wright and Environmental Safety Company nominee Lee Zeldin confronted some harder questioning about their views on local weather change, however are additionally unlikely to face main roadblocks.