Nearly seven weeks after President Donald Trump ordered a review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it does not appear the council he created to conduct the evaluation has met.
And it is not clear who has officially been appointed to the council, or whether anyone has been selected at all.
The president outlined his concerns with FEMA on a January trip to western North Carolina to tour damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
“I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away and we pay directly, we pay a percentage, to the state, and the state should fix it,” he said.
Rep. Tim Moore, a North Carolina Republican, said the visit set in motion a plan by the president to make changes.
“It was something really that happened on the flight down on Air Force One. We had the opportunity to share with the president a lot of the problems that are happening on the ground,” Moore told Spectrum News in February.
The president asked Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, a North Carolina native, to oversee the federal hurricane recovery effort in the state.
Trump also signed an executive order creating a Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council to evaluate FEMA’s response to disasters around the country and recommend potential reforms.
Three North Carolina members of Congress, all Republicans, put out statements saying they had been appointed, but a top party source insists no official selections had been made.
The office of one lawmaker said the council has not met.
Spectrum News asked the White House whether anyone has been officially appointed to the council and why the council has not met.
The White House did not directly answer but issued a statement saying the Trump administration has sped up and improved the response to storm victims in western North Carolina. The statement said the White House is “committed to ensuring Americans affected by natural disasters get the help they need.”
The president’s executive order, signed Jan. 24, calls for the council to hold its first public meeting within 90 days of its creation and to submit its report to the president no more than 180 days later.
Some victims of Helene praise FEMA’s response while many others say FEMA policies and red tape have impeded the agency’s handling of the disaster.
Mayor Esther Manheimer of Asheville, a city hit hard by Helene, has worked with FEMA on storm recovery efforts.
“So far it has been a pretty good experience, but I don’t really have anything to compare it to,” Manheimer said.
“It’s a complex issue because on the one hand what FEMA will say is not enough people are applying for relief. And we know that’s true statistically that in some areas people don’t trust the government," she said. "Other people, what I’ve heard is they will apply for something and not heard from a while and all of a sudden they’ve heard and are pleasantly surprised.”
Manheimer said the mountainous geography of the storm zone has posed challenges for FEMA.
She also said Trump’s emphasis on Helene recovery has led to an increase in resources for the area, including an acceleration of debris removal, which she said is a major issue.
The three members of Congress who issued statements saying they were chosen for the review council are Reps. Virginia Foxx, Chuck Edwards and Tim Moore.
Moore’s office says it’s been in contact with the administration that he is in fact on the council.
"Since President Trump took office, we’ve seen incredible progress in Hurricane Helene recovery efforts because his administration made it a priority from day one. Through action, not just words, he and his team have worked to cut red tape and get resources where they’re needed most," Moore said in a statement. "The FEMA Review Council is another strong step toward reforming the agency to put Americans first and ensure disaster relief is effective and accountable, and I'm honored to be part of the effort to make sure Western North Carolina families get the support they deserve."
In a statement Edwards said: “President Trump appointed me to the FEMA task force to help accelerate recovery in Western North Carolina. After witnessing first hand the response and recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene in our mountains, I made it a priority to secure disaster funding to support the rebuilding process. Now, as a member of this task force, I am building my recommendations on how we can fix FEMA and speed up recovery for Western North Carolinians as well as other disaster victims in the future.”
And in a statement to Spectrum News, Foxx’s office said: “President Trump remains very engaged in supporting recovery efforts in western North Carolina, and the area continues to see improvement thanks to his leadership. It’s a night and day difference compared to the blatant incompetence we all saw coming from the Biden administration. Rep. Foxx has traversed – multiple times over – the areas in her district that suffered serious devastation, and she remains equally engaged as well.”
