FEMA, wildfires loom large in Noem hearing

Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee pressed Kristi Noem, President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of Homeland Security, on whether she would apply conditions to or withhold disaster aid based on politics at her confirmation hearing Friday.

If confirmed, Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, would take office as wildfires ravage California. Both Trump and Noem have placed the blame for the devastating fires on Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a Trump critic and frequent target, and multiple GOP lawmakers have suggested conditions should be attached to any federal aid. In his first term, Trump disregarded a request for wildfire aid from another rival, then-Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D).

In a largely low-key hearing, Noem said unequivocally that she would not politicize aid as head of the Department of Homeland Security, a department that includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, she was cagier on whether she would obey or refuse a directive from Trump to do the same.

“I will deliver the programs according to the law, and that it will be done with no political bias,” Noem said, adding that “every American deserves to be there and have disaster relief, the same as their neighbors.”

Under questioning from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), however, she avoided answering whether she would defy an order from Trump to withhold aid based on the politics of the recipients. Noem responded she would not answer “hypotheticals,” with Blumenthal countering that there were reports of such actions by Trump in his first term.

Noem is likely to be confirmed in the Republican-majority Senate, and her hearing capped off a marathon week of hearings ahead of Trump’s inauguration Monday. Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum received bipartisan plaudits at his hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday. Energy secretary nominee Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency nominee Lee Zeldin faced some tougher questioning about their views on climate change, but are also unlikely to face major roadblocks.

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