Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) alerted DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that FEMA whistleblowers told his office about alleged waste and mismanagement, leading to the agency running out of money.
The federal government has failed miserably in helping those affected by Hurricane Helene.
Mayorkas caused more trouble when he said FEMA doesn’t have enough money.
The letter doesn’t provide many specifics. I doubt Mayorkas will give any answers soon.
“FEMA has wasted taxpayer funds, misappropriated funds, and left other federal, state, and local responders without deployment orders on the ground,” wrote Gaetz. “As reported and further confirmed by my office, hundreds, if not thousands of service members were deployed by the Department of Defense to North Carolina and have sat idle, waiting for FEMA.”
Gaetz continued: “We have confirmed FEMA employees deployed, on the clock, awaiting orders in the hotel. FEMA pre-disaster aid was withheld, exacerbating the emergency. It is also public that NGOs have purchased airline tickets for migrants through the use of FEMA funds.”
Gaetz wants Mayorkas to answer these questions by October 11:
FEMA has denied accusations that it spent millions on illegal aliens.
Well, FEMA has the Shelter and Services Program (SSP):
The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) provides funding to non-federal agencies to spend on humanitarian services for non-U.S. citizens. For the 2024 fiscal year, which ended on Monday, $640 million was made available.The FEMA website says this funding is intended to “support CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) in the safe, orderly and humane release of noncitizen migrants from short-term holding facilities.” The money can be spent on a range of services, including food, shelter, transportation, acute medical care, clothing and translation services.The budget for the past year was a significant increase from the 2023 fiscal year, when $363 million was allocated. Together, more than $1 billion has been spent on non-citizen services over the past two years.
Honestly, the amount is minuscule since the FEMA has a $33.1 billion budget for FY 2025.
That fact makes the whistleblowers’ accusation more interesting.
FEMA has the money, but how is the Disaster Relief Fund missing money? That’s a rhetorical question because we know.
Yeah, the government totally only uses the amount allocated for specific programs:
FEMA’s fiscal 2025 budget also included $22.7 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which mostly covers costs for previously declared disasters. This pot does not cover potential future events, given that they are unpredictable.”As in prior years, the budget assumes future catastrophic events during the budget year will be funded separately with emergency supplemental appropriations,” a FEMA report said in March.Hurricane Helene struck at the end of one fiscal year and the beginning of another, while Congress was also in the middle of budget negotiations to avoid a government shutdown, complicating the funding troubles.The DRF was recently facing a $2 billion deficit, far higher than the $650 million allocated to SSP, and that was before Helene made landfall.
Unfortunately, Congress left out the DRF in the continuing resolution to keep the government open.
Well, Republicans also voted against adding more money to DRF…including Gaetz.
But still. Where is the missing money? These are valid questions.
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