How a Noem DHS policy leaves a backlog of FEMA payments

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is leaving a backlog of unfulfilled FEMA payments as the Trump administration looks to replace her.

Lawmakers found a policy for Noem to personally sign off on payments more than $100,000 was keeping disaster relief dollars from reaching cities.

The study, published in March, noted “Minority staff also found that the Secretary’s directive delayed approval or left approval pending for 1,034 contracts, grants, or disaster assistance awards as of September 8, 2025.”

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said the city is slated to receive about $1 billion in relief funds over the next six years, making the $100,000 threshold significant.

She said the city has enough on it’s plate without worrying about which FEMA payments to rebuild will be approved by the DHS secretary.

“Will we receive the money to fix our water system, or this piece of our water system, or will we receive funding to rebuild this community pool that was destroyed, first? Last? You don’t really know.”

Republican North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis confronted Noem with a graph of delayed FEMA payments under her watch in a recent Senate Judiciary hearing.

“Thousands of people are hurting in North Carolina, and you’re just barely catching up, This is what competent FEMA leadership looks like, this is what incompetent FEMA leadership looks like, and people are hurting in Western North Carolina.”

Manheimer said delayed government payments take a mental toll on a community trying to recover.

“When they see these lapses in the functioning of our government, they lose heart, and they lose trust that they’re going to be helped by our government.”

The Senate is looking to begin the process of confirming Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-OK, to replace Kristi Noem as DHS Secretary as early as next week.

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