Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that she is in favor of getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in its current form.
“I would say, yes, get rid of FEMA the way it exists today,” Noem said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“We still need the resources and the funds and the finances to go to people that have these types of disasters like Hurricane Helene and the fires in California,” she added.
Noem said President Donald Trump “can, and I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team,” adding that he’ll “work with Congress” to make sure it’s “done correctly.”
Her remarks come as Trump has explored getting rid of FEMA in the wake of several natural disasters — including Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and devastating California wildfires in the Los Angeles area — that have plagued the U.S. in recent weeks and months.
During a visit to North Carolina in January, Trump told reporters, “I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA.”
Also while in the state, the president said he favors “probably less FEMA, because FEMA just hasn’t done the job. And we’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA.”
On Sunday, asked by CNN to confirm reporting in The Washington Post that Elon Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have been given access to FEMA disaster data, including sensitive personal data about disaster victims, Noem said, “The president has authorized [Musk] to have access.”
“We’re working with them at the president’s direction to find what we can do to make our department much more efficient,” Noem said, adding that she “absolutely” feels comfortable with that.
Noem also spoke about the Trump administration’s plans to house migrants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
While the administration currently plans to house violent offenders at Guantanamo, Noem didn’t rule out housing nonviolent offenders at the facility, saying, “We will have some facilities that will be up to the same standards as other detention facilities in the United States. And I don’t think the president is going to tie his hands on what he needs to do to make sure that America is safe.”
While the project to build temporary detention facilities at Guantanamo is still ongoing, Noem added that she expects to be able to house up to 30,000 migrants there.
Last week, in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Noem dodged several questions about whether women and children would be housed at Guantanamo, not ruling it out.
On Sunday, in response to CNN’s questions about whether she’s comfortable with the legality of bringing people from U.S. soil to Guantanamo, Noem said, “I am, and the president is comfortable with that.”
She wouldn’t commit to a timeline for detaining people there before they are returned to their home country.
Owen Hayes is an associate producer for the NBC News Washington bureau.
