By James J. Devine
Republican President Donald Trump’s relentless push to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not just another example of his ideological extremism—it is a direct threat to American lives.
His administration’s latest scheme, championed by dog-killer Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, to “eliminate” FEMA and offload disaster response onto ill-equipped state and local governments is a grotesque dereliction of leadership.
It epitomizes Trump’s “every man for himself” attitude, where the most vulnerable are left to fend for themselves while the federal government shrugs off its most basic responsibility to protect citizens.
FEMA exists because disasters do not respect state lines.
Hurricanes, wildfires, and pandemics demand a coordinated national response—something state governments, no matter how well-intentioned, simply cannot manage alone.
GOP Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, a Republican, rightly noted that FEMA’s role in protecting “people and property” is irreplaceable.
Yet Trump, in his trademark disdain for expertise and institutional knowledge, would rather gamble with American lives than maintain a system that has saved countless communities from ruin.
This is not fiscal conservatism—it is sabotage.
Trump’s obsession with shrinking government has always been less about efficiency and more about dismantling safeguards that protect ordinary Americans.
His plans to force states to take on more disaster responsibilities is a thinly veiled attempt to create chaos, ensuring that when the next catastrophe strikes, the blame can be deflected to governors and mayors while he evades accountability.
The cruelty is the point.
Trump’s vision of governance is one where solidarity is replaced by selfishness, where the federal government exists not to serve its citizens but to abandon them.
FEMA has long enjoyed bipartisan support because it works—not perfectly—but indispensably.
To destroy it for the sake of passing the savings to billionaires or for ideological spite is not just reckless; it is morally indefensible.
If Trump and Noem succeed, the consequences will be measured in lost lives, shattered communities, and a nation left weaker in the face of disaster.
Their plan isn’t going to make America great—it’s negligence masquerading as policy and history will remember it as such.