Beshear to Trump: Dissolving FEMA is ‘a very bad idea’ and could hinder disaster victims
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s suggestion the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also know as FEMA, should be dissolved.
Trump made the comment late last week when touring parts of North Carolina ravaged by flooding from Hurricane Helene last year. He said he wants to allow the states to “take care of disasters” instead of FEMA, which has existed since the late 1970s.
“To have a group of people come in from an area that don’t even know where they’re going in order to solve, immediately, a problem is something that never worked for me,” Trump said. “I’d like to see the states take care of disasters.”
Beshear, familiar with natural disasters that hit Kentucky in his first term, rejects the idea. He told CNN in an interview Tuesday that FEMA could improve in many ways, but its core usefulness remains.
He said all 50 states would have to foot the bill for administration of programs in the way that FEMA currently does if the program were cut. Such a move “would put so much administrative burden and cost on states,” he argued.
“One group handles all the administrative jobs and costs for 50 states. If you dissolve it, all 50 states would have to create their own administrative arm, and that would eat up so much of the funding that ultimately needs to go to the people and to the states to rebuild,” Beshear said.
He also cited his own experience in handling disasters — in 2021 tornadoes wreaked havoc in Western Kentucky, and one year later historic flooding killed dozens and leveled several homes in Eastern Kentucky — as reason for FEMA to remain.
FEMA, he said, helped coordinate with other states who had the personnel to help Kentucky.
“After our flooding in 2022 we had over 1,400 rescues — 1,400 Kentuckians that are still alive today. And yes, we did most of them through our state police and our National Guard, but FEMA helped us bring in Tennessee’s National Guard, West Virginia’s National Guard, and surged other resources when we needed them the most,” Beshear said.
“In those hours when power is knocked out, FEMA can help you source things like generators, can bring in some extra resources, and at the very least bring a whole lot more people in to help in those moments where you need it the most.”
In the nascent days of the Trump administration, Beshear has become one of many voices speaking against the Republican president’s policies, even as he governs a state that supported Trump over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris by more than 30 percentage points.
Though 2028 is still far off, Beshear is one of about a dozen politicians seen as potentially vying for the Democratic presidential nomination. POLITICO ranked Beshear as one of the top Democrats potentially in line for the nomination, though an analysis from the Washington Post ranked him 10th in the pecking order of about a dozen Democratic politicians.
In addition to his FEMA comments, Beshear took time on Tuesday to criticize another Trump policy: withdrawing from the World Heath Organization.
He posted a video and statement to social media decrying the executive order that withdrew America from the group.
“The pandemic showed us that public health is now global. Withdrawing from the WHO will leave us with less data and fewer options to stop future health threats,” Beshear said.
“We’ve got to focus on the things that keep our people safe — as a nation, and as a commonwealth. As governor of Kentucky, I’m going to remain focused on that for our people, no matter what.”
