Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Condemning The Trump Administration’s Policies That Have Hindered Rescue Efforts And Led To Total Chaos At FEMA

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to condemn the policies put in place by the Trump administration at FEMA, where massive cuts and bureaucratic obstacles have endangered the lives of the American people and led to the resignation of FEMA’s head of urban search and rescue. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

After the heartbreaking tragedy in Texas, I called for accountability to determine if Donald Trump's cuts played any role in hindering the rescue effort.

The White House reacted by calling us liars. They said it was a “depraved lie” to question if Donald Trump's actions harmed rescue efforts.

But, sadly, the more we learn, the more we see that Donald Trump and Kristi Noem are the liars – and there is very little doubt their DOGE cuts made things worse at FEMA and affected what happened in Texas.

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the head of FEMA's urban search and rescue unit resigned.

The reason he stated was that Donald Trump has created chaos at the agency. The former worker said Donald Trump’s cuts, bureaucratic obstacles, and abysmal response to the flooding in FEMA influenced his decision.

He specifically cites, as have many others, Kristi Noem's decision requiring her personal approval on every purchase of more than $100,000.

Remember, experts have said that this stupid policy was responsible for getting rid of hundreds of call center staff for five days after the Texas flood.

Thousands of calls to FEMA from flood survivors went unanswered, according to internal documents.

That’s unacceptable. That’s incompetent. But this is the consequence of Donald Trump's terrible policies.

So, Donald Trump may have called those of us who criticized FEMA's DOGE cuts—and their effect in Texas—liars, in order to avoid responsibility. But, in fact, he is the liar here. His actions at FEMA have caused chaos, staff shortages, delayed response. It puts people’s lives in danger moving forward.

And unfortunately, these DOGE cuts are going to have many other dire consequences for the American people. Donald Trump may try to deflect blame, but he is the one who implemented these horrible cuts across the board.

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