Former Homeland Safety Secretary Janet Napolitano stated on Sunday that Kristi Noem, President-elect Trump’s choose to steer the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), ought to have the ability to say how she plans to guard the Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA) from misinformation.
Napolitano, in an interview on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” pressured that DHS encompasses companies that transcend coping with border safety and immigration, and stated Noem needs to be able to reply a wide selection of questions at her affirmation listening to.
“I think she’s asked some basic questions about what she understands about the Department of Homeland Security, and then how she would prioritize the many missions of the department. And then I’m sure she will get a lot of questions about immigration and border enforcement. That goes with the job, but so does FEMA,” stated Napolitano, who served in former President Obama’s first time period.
“So how does she intend to protect FEMA from misinformation about claims that it’s politicized the relief process, as we saw in North Carolina this past fall?”
When Hurricane Helene took a devastating toll on North Carolina in September, FEMA revamped its “rumor response” web page to fight the flood of misinformation — notably from those that stated FEMA didn’t have the cash to offer catastrophe help.
On the time, officers expressed concern that these false claims would dissuade individuals from getting the assistance they wanted and was out there to them.
Napolitano stated she expects Noem to get questions on how she is going to shield the nation’s essential infrastructure from cyberattacks, which, Napolitano stated, “are many and varied, and have become almost ubiquitous.”
“How does she intend to relate to the White House? Will she exercise any independent judgment, or will she simply do what the president’s senior advisers tell her to do?” Napolitano continued.
Napolitano stated Noem needs to be ready to reply how she intends to handle such an enormous division.
“The department is the size of almost 10 percent of her total state’s population, and it’s spread all over the country and in many foreign countries as well. What management skills or techniques does she intend to bring to bear as a Cabinet secretary?”
