The news of Kristi Noem’s firing from the Department of Homeland Security late last week brought bipartisan enthusiasm in North Carolina as the state waits for millions of federal relief dollars after Hurricane Helene.
President Trump’s new pick to lead DHS is Markwayne Mullin, a Senator representing Oklahoma and a member of the Cherokee nation.
"There's an opportunity to build off successes and there's opportunities to build off things that maybe didn't go quite as planned," he said last week to a group of reporters.
It is not clear if Mullin will rescind a DHS policy that spurred the ire of state and local officials across the country and delayed millions of much-needed dollars. Still, politicians and disaster recovery officials in North Carolina are hoping he’ll speed up recovery programs.
“ I certainly welcome a change in the direction of Homeland Security, particularly for the recovery of western North Carolina. What we have experienced for the last several months has not been working,” Congressman Chuck Edwards told BPR News in an interview March 6.
After members of Congress lambasted disaster response in western North Carolina last week, FEMA posted on X that no additional projects from western North Carolina are pending a DHS secretary approval, the last step in the process before funds are obligated. However, many projects that need reimbursement are still being reviewed by FEMA staff.
Noem’s policy requiring a signoff on any expense over $100,000 delayed disbursement of funds by weeks, according to a report from Senate Democrats. Edwards said he thinks the policy is “prudent.” But, he added, “there's no question that that process needs to be accelerated.”
The policy delayed funds from reaching local and state governments that had shelled out tens of millions of dollars in the immediate aftermath of the storm from their own budgets.
It is unclear whether or not Sen. Mullin will continue this policy. He still needs to be confirmed by the Senate before taking over DHS.
Mullin will likely have support from both North Carolina senators.
Sen. Thom Tillis, who in his last months in office has targeted Noem and accused her of violating federal law, posted that Mullin “is a great guy and a great choice to lead DHS, restore competence, and refocus efforts on quickly distributing disaster aid, keeping the border secure, and targeting violent illegal immigrants for deportation. Another big positive: he likes dogs.”
Sen. Ted Budd posted his congratulations to Mullin on social media and urged fellow lawmakers to “vote to confirm him & move to reopen DHS swiftly.”
State officials are also hopeful that Sen. Mullin will speed up the delivery of recovery funds.
“Regardless of who the secretary is, FEMA needs to act with greater urgency, approving and distributing funds for relief. And I'm eager to work with Sen. Mullen in his new capacity to achieve that goal,” North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said Friday during a storm-recovery meeting.
Matt Calabria, who leads the Governor's Office of Recovery for Western North Carolina, said he is “optimistic” the state will get the funds it needs.
Among those needs: money for housing repairs and home buyouts through a FEMA program that has hundreds of applicants.
“There are hundreds of families that are still waiting to hear back from the federal government about whether their property will be bought out so they can take the proceeds from that and start their lives in a new place,” he said in an interview with BPR News. “A lot of families are in limbo right now.”
