Climate Power and En Acción Call on Congress to Impeach Secretary Kristi Noem and Fund FEMA, Not ICE

Washington, DC – As millions of families cope with the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under Kristi Noem’s leadership, continues to prioritize unlawful immigration enforcement over pressing public safety needs like disaster recovery. Since day one at the helm of DHS, Noem has worked to gut the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), leading to delayed and denied resources to communities from Asheville to LA as they recover from extreme weather events. At the same time that families await desperately needed aid, Noem has diverted FEMA staff and funding to bolster the brutal operations of ICE, putting disaster relief on the backburner. Today, Climate Power and Climate Power En Acción called for the impeachment of Noem and the funding of FEMA, not ICE. 

Climate Power President Lori Lodes and Climate Power En Acción Executive Director Antonieta Cádiz Vargas issued the following statement: 

“Secretary Kristi Noem has enabled ICE to unlawfully terrorize our communities, kidnap children, and murder individuals on the streets. Simply put, Noem and Trump are directly responsible for the bloodshed and rampant fear that have taken place in Minneapolis and too many neighborhoods across the country. While Noem funnels resources to ICE, already the highest-funded law enforcement agency, she has gutted FEMA and undermined our nation’s disaster response—leaving communities more vulnerable to extreme weather disasters that are increasing in frequency and severity. 

“Rather than dedicating resources to provide relief to families devastated by fires, floods, and storms, Noem diverted over $600 million from FEMA to build migrant detention centers and forcibly reassigned FEMA staff to work on deportations. Right now, Noem is personally holding up $17 billion in disaster relief funds from reaching impacted communities. 

“Families are afraid to go to the grocery store and send their children to school,  while devastated communities wait for aid that may not come. We must fund the agencies that protect people, not the ones that turn our cities into battlefields and separate families. Congress must take immediate action to impeach Kristi Noem, and fund FEMA, not ICE.”

Under Noem’s leadership, DHS has gutted FEMA, weakened our disaster response, and made our communities less safe: 

• Noem and DHS leadership redirected over $600 million from FEMA to build migrant detention centers and forcibly reassigned dozens of key FEMA staff to work for ICE on deportations, putting communities at risk from extreme weather.
  
• Under Noem’s leadership, FEMA has repeatedly blocked and delayed critical aid to disaster survivors.
  
• Noem required her signoff on FEMA spending over $100,000, which led to delays in aid and recovery for Texas after deadly flooding and North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
  
• While FEMA blocked and delayed aid to disaster survivors, DHS spent $200 million on two private jets for Noem.
  
• Noem’s scrutiny of FEMA aid to states has created a $17 billion bottleneck, slowing assistance to disaster-struck communities.
  
• Noem said that she planned to eliminate FEMA, and under Noem, FEMA lost roughly 20% of the staff responsible for preventing and responding to disasters ahead of hurricane season.
  
• In December 2025, Noem cut dozens more disaster response and recovery staff at FEMA, with potential cuts to thousands more response staff. FEMA employees were told to prepare for the agency to cut its staff by more than 50%.
  
• The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that Trump and Noem’s FEMA cuts could “exacerbate existing challenges and impact the federal government’s readiness to respond to future disasters.”
  
• More than 180 FEMA officials and experts sent a letter to Congress saying that FEMA leadership, including Kristi Noem, was unqualified and hindered the agency’s ability to effectively manage emergencies.