Under previous administrations, FEMA quickly coordinated search and rescue teams to assist communities facing catastrophes. But new spending rules require the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to personally sign off on expenses over $100,000. Her approval for responding to the Texas disaster didn’t come until Monday, delaying the agency’s response, according to reporting by CNN’s Gabe Cohen and Michael Williams.

At the same time, acting FEMA administrator David Richardson was notably absent on the ground in Texas, in the press, and even within his agency. By Wednesday, July 9, Richardson had yet to make a single internal or public remark about the flooding, according to reporting by Marisa Kabas, who runs the independent news outlet, The Handbasket.

“It is unprecedented for the leader of FEMA to be absent from the public response to a disaster that has killed over 100 Americans,” Samantha Montano, associate professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Handbasket.

Since taking office, Trump and members of his administration have declared their desire to reduce federal disaster support and to eliminate FEMA. Disaster assistance from FEMA was hard to come by for states hit by tornadoes in spring 2025.