GOP senator rips Kristi Noem over FEMA disaster relief: 'You’re violating the law'

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) went off on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and criticized her handling of FEMA disaster relief during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Noem was testifying before senators when Tillis gave his statement, eviscerating Noem's leadership and expressing his disappointment about her decisions regarding the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions, including the deaths of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. He argued that Noem had disappointed him and specifically expressed concerns about how she has handled the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"What we've seen is a disaster under your leadership," Tillis said.

"I want to talk a minute about FEMA," Tillis said. "You have a policy right now that anything over $100,000 needs to go through your desk for approval. I asked my staff, because I'm a management consultant, I don't try to do cheap shots here. But the facts do not lie."

Tillis used a chart to compare the disaster relief funding from President Donald Trump's first administration to the second, describing the problems the funding bottleneck under Noem has caused for his constituents in North Carolina. He called her FEMA leadership "incompetent."

"People are hurting in western North Carolina from the most significant storm they've ever experienced," Tillis said. "If you're requesting a review of $100,000 and up, then it begs the question, why? Why would you be involved in that?"

Noem then tried to interject, but Tillis told her to stay quiet.

"You've failed at FEMA," Tillis said, citing the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which prohibits the Secretary of Homeland Security from diverting funding from FEMA.

Tillis said that he planned to investigate the pending disbursements that he alleged she was blocking from distribution.

"Based on your disaster response, the chart that I just showed you, I have reason to believe you're violating the law, either knowingly or unknowingly," Tillis said.