Kristi Noem's FEMA moves and 7th grader wins Scripps spelling bee: Morning Rundown

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quietly moves bolster FEMA ahead of hurricane season.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quietly moves bolster FEMA ahead of hurricane season. Donald Trump's tariffs on international trade partners are allowed to continue, for now. And the skulls of 19 Black Americans are returned after 150 years.

Here’s what to know today.

With the U.S. expected to face an above-average hurricane season this year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is quietly pushing to keep key employees in place and to approve reimbursements to states previously hit by disaster, sources familiar with the situation said. 

The behind-the-scenes moves are a contrast to Noem's public calls for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to be reoriented or done away with altogether. They echoed of President Donald Trump's suggestion earlier this year to possibly "get rid of" the agency.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attends the Conservative Political Action Conference in Poland on Tuesday.Alex Brandon / Pool via AFP via Getty ImagesLast week, Noem approved a request from newly installed acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson to retain 2,652 employees part of an on-call response/recovery group whose terms had been set to expire between April and December. Their departures would have left FEMA without a large number of key employees during hurricane season. Still, the departures of a large number of FEMA’s senior executives, largely voluntarily, has raised concerns about its ability to respond during hurricane season.