Michael Coen

Opinion | Texas Hill Country Is Underwater, and America’s Emergency Lifeline Is Fraying

Texas Hill Country Is Underwater, and America’s Emergency Lifeline Is Fraying www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/o...

‘We’ve been ghosted by FEMA’: Officials across country say they can’t get answers on critical funding | CNN Politics As hurricane season bears down, a new layer of uncertainty is spreading through the disaster response system: a wall of silence from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that’s leaving officials fr...

www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/p...

Noem demands more control over FEMA and Homeland Security funding, which could slow disaster response | CNN Politics Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is tightening her grip on her department’s purse strings, ordering that every contract and grant over $100,000 must now cross her desk for approval, according t...

www.cnn.com/2025/06/18/p...

Donna Brazil, The Hill — We need a national response to defend America from natural disasters in the same way we need a national response when we defend America militarily. That’s why we have a national armed forces, rather than a separate Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Space Force…

President Trump stumbles while attempting to board Air Force One

FEMA 'joke' from chief raises concerns about disaster preparedness in Black communities Experts warn that Black communities stand to suffer the most in the event of any oversights or missteps from the Trump administration.

thegrio.com/2025/06/05/f...

Wake-up call for CEOs: How misinformation is redefining resilience CEOs must prepare for the current volatile information environment where no one has a monopoly on truth.

You have planned for weather emergencies. Do you have a plan to address misinformation?

My former colleagues Mr. Knighten & Mr. George share their insights & lessons learned from crisis. Their advice & perseoective will strengthen organizations.

St. Louis waits for aid as FEMA response to Missouri disasters is slowest in 15 years From 2010 through 2024, it took an average of 16 days to approve federal disaster requests for Missouri. One declaration for Missouri this year took 49 days.

www.ksdk.com/article/weat...

No hurricane season? Acting FEMA chief’s remark was a joke, DHS says.

WP — “I’m unaware of why he hasn’t been fired yet,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said on social media after Richardson’s comment was publicized.

Inside the scramble to keep FEMA alive ahead of hurricane season The Trump administration has been moving to drastically cut or even eliminate the disaster response and relief agency, but without a backup ready, it’s moving to keep some key pieces in place.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Psaki: FEMA requests are the kinds "you sometimes wake up the President for"

As hurricane season looms, America’s weather and disaster agencies are in turmoil | CNN Staring down another above-average hurricane season, America’s weather forecasting and disaster response agencies are more hollowed out than ever before – and that could leave tens of millions of Amer...

www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/w...

FEMA senior officials exit en masse as Trump targets agency The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency announced the departure of 16 senior executives on Wednesday, a significant shakeup of its leadership ranks less than two weeks before the start of what is expected to be a busy hurricane season.

FEMA senior officials exit en masse as Trump targets agency - www.reuters.com/world/us/fem...

Bar chart of "FEMA Funding for Florida and Texas" from Jan 2015 to Jan 2025

Lots of talk about TX and FL and their capacity to meet disaster needs as FEMA seeks to push responsibility for response and recovery to the state level. Since 2015, FEMA sent $6.6B to Texas for disasters and $13.2B to FL.

Noem eyes $50M for new DHS jet President Trump isn’t the only administration official eyeing a new jet: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is also set to get one under a last-minute addition to the Coast Guard budget.…

thehill.com/policy/natio...

Exclusive: FEMA is “not ready” for hurricane season, internal agency review shows | CNN Politics Hurricane preparations at FEMA have slowed to a crawl. With hurricane season weeks away, a new assessment raises a number of red flags about how the agency would respond to a major disaster.

www.cnn.com/2025/05/15/p...

BREAKING — FEMA Acting Chief Counsel Joshua Stanton has been put on administrative leave & walked out of the building after being given the role *just last week*, an agency source tells me.

Previous chief counsel Adrian Sevier had been with FEMA since 2000 and was office's longest-serving chief.

Republicans defend FEMA as Trump fires hundreds from agency

Republicans defend FEMA as Trump fires hundreds from agency

Trump’s talking about shutting down FEMA. Republicans hate that idea. GOP lawmakers resisted the president's suggestion FEMA might need to "go away," but they support changes to the disaster response agency.

www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Trump’s talking about shutting down FEMA. Republicans hate that idea. GOP lawmakers resisted the president's suggestion FEMA might need to "go away," but they support changes to the disaster response agency.

“I think Republican governors would probably have something they’d want to say about that,” Coen said.
www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

FEMA faces shakeup under Trump while it wrestles with disasters on both coasts President Donald Trump is preparing to reshape the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been on the frontlines of responding to disasters in California and North Carolina.

apnews.com/article/dona...

‘Setting us up for catastrophe’: alarm at Trump attack on federal disaster agency The president is now setting his sights on Fema, the agency responsible for helping Americans after major disasters

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

'Disasters don’t discriminate,' outgoing FEMA administrator says Whether it is a hurricane, major tornado, or wildfire, disasters "don't discriminate" in where they will be and whom they impact, according to the outgoing FEMA chief.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/dis...

More Americans Are Missing Payments and Losing Home Insurance As climate threats worsen, they are skipping payments and losing protection.

The cost and frequency of insurance claims are rising quickly in the highest-risk parts of the United States, as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the numbers. They show that the financial stress on insurers is also growing.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

FEMA officials worry Trump will divert disaster aid to the border Their concern comes as the agency is being asked to tackle a growing number of problems, such as pandemic relief.

www.politico.com/live-updates...