Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is canceling thousands of Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts after the Department of Government Efficiency found billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and unnecessary spending, according to a report on Friday.
Spending cited in the report included $10.7 million on public safety announcements, $3.3 million for employee marketing, $1.6 million for two workshops, and more than $1.2 million for a “conference center concierge,” reported The Daily Caller, which obtained a sample of the contracts flagged for termination.
Other contracts covered brief meeting planning, paperwork shredding, social media recruiting, and diversity programs.
“Any American who opened the books at FEMA and saw their lackluster spending controls and policies would be horrified,” a FEMA spokesperson told The Daily Caller. “Secretary Noem has been an extraordinary leader, bringing spending best practices, fiscal responsibility, and mission alignment to an agency that has run amok for far too long.”
Noem on Thursday criticized inefficiencies in federal disaster relief over the past 15-20 years. At a meeting of the FEMA Review Council, she called for reforms to speed up federal support and give states more control over long-term recovery, saying the priority should be reducing bureaucratic delays to deliver resources such as emergency aid and search-and-rescue services.
The Government Accountability Office and the DHS inspector general have for years urged FEMA to tighten fiscal controls and streamline disaster aid, citing delays, poor oversight, and waste.
After Hurricanes Maria and Irma, FEMA lost track of nearly 40% of supply shipments to Puerto Rico, worth about $257 million, and awarded a $156 million meal contract to a one-woman firm that delivered only 50,000 of the 30 million promised meals, according to reports.
Meanwhile, a 2022 GAO report found the agency met its 189-day target for Public Assistance in just 14% of cases in one region, with average project awards taking over a year. The COVID-era Lost Wages Assistance program added $3.7 billion in improper payments, while FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program remains $20.5 billion in debt.
Several FEMA employees were placed on leave this week after signing an open letter complaining about the agency’s leadership. Some staff members also wrote to Congress expressing concern that inexperienced Trump appointees could hinder hurricane response.
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