DHS Secretary Kristi Noem says Trump wants FEMA 'remade,' not dismantled

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Sunday that President Donald Trump wants the Federal Emergency Management Agency "remade."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that President Donald Trump wants the Federal Emergency Management Agency “remade” rather than dismantled entirely.

“I think the president recognizes that FEMA should not exist the way that it always has been. It needs to be redeployed in a new way, and that’s what we did during this response,” Noem said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” referring to the federal government’s response to the Texas floods.

Trump has previously slammed FEMA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and mused about possibly “getting rid” of the agency, which administers emergency relief. Noem, too, has previously said that the administration would eliminate FEMA.

Asked on “Meet the Press” a second time whether Trump no longer wanted to end the agency, Noem reiterated that she believed the president “wants it to be remade so that it’s an agency that is new in how it deploys and supports states.”

In the aftermath of the Texas floods, which have killed at least 129 people with 166 still missing, the administration has shifted away from its harsh rhetoric targeting the agency. Noem told reporters on Saturday that the federal response in Texas would be how Trump envisions “what FEMA would look like into the future.”