Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Calling On The GAO To Investigate The Trump Administration’s Dangerous Cuts To FEMA
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to call out the Trump administration for its blatant failure to protect Americans from natural disaster in the wake of the tragedy in Texas and called on the GAO to investigate the cuts to FEMA and how these actions threaten disaster response nationwide. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Search and rescue efforts continue in Central Texas eleven days after the devastating July 4th flooding.
We continue to pray for every life lost. We pray for the families. And we honor the brave first responders who have been on the ground, day after day after day.
But honoring those we lost demands accountability. It demands making sure this never happens again.
The more we learn about what went wrong, the more one thing becomes painfully clear: Donald Trump, Secretary Noem, and the Department of Homeland Security have failed – failed – in their basic duty to protect Americans from natural disasters.
After spending months demonizing FEMA, after openly calling for it to be dismantled, after shedding thousands of staff and cancelling billions in funding, Trump and Noem’s disastrous policies have come back to haunt Americans battered by disasters.
This latest tragedy happened in Texas. But the problems go far beyond Texas. This is a nationwide FEMA failure – a systemic issue across the agency that Donald Trump has made much, much worse.
So today, I’m calling on the Comptroller General of the GAO, the Government Accountability Office to immediately investigate:
One, how FEMA’s funding cuts, staffing cuts, and policy changes contributed to the failures in Texas.
And two, to assess the risks their actions pose to future disaster response nationwide.
The facts are alarming: FEMA contracts stalled while survivors called for help. Vital staff positions sat vacant. Rescue and recovery efforts were bogged down by bureaucratic choke points. These aren’t just breakdowns – they may constitute a dereliction of duty by those entrusted to protect the public in times of crisis.
The American people have a right to know: did these reckless decisions cost lives? Are we now more vulnerable when the next storm, fire, or flood strikes, wherever it strikes?
A comprehensive and urgent review is not just warranted – it is essential. Americans do not support the administration making radical DOGE cuts to agencies like FEMA. These cuts have devastating consequences in life and death situations like a natural disaster.
Americans do not support chaos from the government when disasters strike. They do not support red tape that leaves families stranded and communities battered.
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