Republican Sen. Ted Budd blasted FEMA for “stonewalling” funds to his state to recover from Hurricane Helene and said that he plans to use his leverage in the chamber to stall Department of Homeland Security nominees until the issue is addressed.
The North Carolina lawmaker voted to filibuster a top DHS official Tuesday, and his spokesman issued a statement saying that the senator is “deeply concerned” over the relief effort.
“Sen. Budd is deeply concerned by the slow approval and distribution of funding from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA for Hurricane Helene recovery,” said Budd’s spokesman Christian McMullen.
Budd, whose state was hit hard by Helene last year, was the only Republican to vote with Democrats in a failed bid to block Robert Law from being under secretary for strategy, policy and plans at DHS.
Later, Budd told CNN that he will put holds on all DHS nominees until this issue is resolved. He said a main problem in getting funds to his storm-struck constituents is that Secretary Kristi Noem must personally sign off on any expenditure over $100,000. He said has pressed them to change that policy and is flummoxed why they won’t.
A hold would prevent quick action to confirm a nominee without Budd’s consent.
“We’ve let leadership know we’re going to place holds on all DHS nominees until we get an appropriate dialogue and response on the outstanding invoices that have not been paid to western North Carolina from FEMA,” he said. “So, it’s been very slow. But going back to December is when we appropriated the money, when we voted for the money and approved it there. But now here we are, nine months later, we still haven’t seen the reimbursements.”
“I know that in each county, every item almost is over $100,000. That’s every single thing that runs through a rather significant agency. I just don’t think that’s the way you navigate this. I think there are very competent, even Senate-approved people that can share the load and approve things,” he said. “Choke holding this thing or stonewalling states that are hurt by hurricanes is not the way to get rid of waste fraud and abuse.”
CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.
Asked if he had reached out to Noem to encourage her to change the policy, Budd noted that they were former colleagues in the House but said it’s been difficult to arrange a meeting.
“We’ve been reaching out for quite a while and have had some difficulty,” he said. “We’ve reached out multiple times to schedule. It shouldn’t be difficult. And I can tell you that every other Cabinet secretary has been wonderful to work with and very easy to work with, and I look forward to that from Sec. Noem.”
In June, CNN reported Noem was tightening her grip on her department’s purse strings, ordering that every contract and grant over $100,000 must now cross her desk for approval.
A DHS spokesperson said at the time that “Secretary Noem is delivering accountability to the U.S. taxpayer, which Washington bureaucrats have ignored for decades at the expense of American citizens.”
In July, CNN reported that FEMA’s response to flooding in Texas was slowed by Noem’s cost controls, according to officials inside the agency – an assertion that DHS pushed back on.
The enormous devastation of Hurricane Helene became a political flashpoint during the 2024 presidential election.
Donald Trump criticized then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris over the federal response, while vowing to help those impacted by the hurricane.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
