{"id":857,"date":"2025-09-28T11:46:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/?p=857"},"modified":"2025-09-28T11:46:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:46:40","slug":"kristie-noem-fast-tracked-millions-of-disaster-aid-funds-and-question-does-the-usa-have-the-best-looking-government-officials-compared-to-the-ugly-ugly-ones-appointed-by-obama-and-biden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/kristie-noem-fast-tracked-millions-of-disaster-aid-funds-and-question-does-the-usa-have-the-best-looking-government-officials-compared-to-the-ugly-ugly-ones-appointed-by-obama-and-biden\/","title":{"rendered":"KRISTIE NOEM FAST TRACKED MILLIONS OF DISASTER AID FUNDS…AND QUESTION? DOES THE USA HAVE THE BEST LOOKING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, COMPARED TO THE UGLY, UGLY ONES APPOINTED BY OBAMA AND BIDEN???"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, center, speaks with Mayor Teresa Heitmann of Naples, Florida, and City Manager Gary Young on a damaged historic pier in the city on Aug. 29.<\/span> Credit: <\/span> Tia Dufour\/Department of Homeland Security <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kristi Noem Fast-Tracked Millions in Disaster Aid to Florida Tourist Attraction After Campaign Donor Intervened<\/h1>\n

The DHS chief has been widely criticized for slowing down FEMA\u2019s response after natural disasters. Texts and emails obtained by ProPublica point to an effective way to get help faster: have one of Noem\u2019s big donors make the ask.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For months, the complaints have rolled in from parts of the country hit by natural disasters: The Federal Emergency Management Agency was moving far too slowly in sending aid to communities ravaged by floods and hurricanes, including in central Texas and North Carolina. Many officials were blaming Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, whose agency oversees FEMA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t get phone calls back,\u201d Ted Budd, the Republican senator from North Carolina, told a newspaper<\/a> this month, describing his attempts to reach Noem\u2019s office. \u201cI can\u2019t get them to initiate the money. It\u2019s just a quagmire.\u201d The delays were caused in part by a new policy announced by DHS that requires Noem\u2019s personal sign-off on expenses over $100,000, several news outlets reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But records obtained by ProPublica show how one locality found a way to get FEMA aid more quickly: It asked one of Noem\u2019s political donors for help.<\/p>\n

The records show that Noem quickly expedited more than $11 million of federal money to rebuild a historic pier in Naples, Florida, after she was contacted by a major financial supporter last month. The pier is a tourist attraction in the wealthy Gulf Coast enclave and was badly damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022.<\/p>\n

Frustrated city officials had been laboring for months, without success, to get disaster assistance. But just two weeks after the donor stepped in, they were celebrating their sudden change of fortune. \u201cWe are now at warp speed with FEMA,\u201d one city official wrote in an email. A FEMA representative wrote: \u201cPer leadership instruction, pushing project immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n