Headline: CNN, 4/30/2026
FEMA has reinstated a group of whistleblowers who signed an open letter to Congress last August warning that the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal agency was setting the stage for a disaster-response breakdown on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, according to five FEMA officials with knowledge of the matter.
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which it oversees, also brought back multiple senior officials who were polygraphed and placed on paid administrative leave more than a year ago, three of the officials told CNN.
The reversals are part of a broader reset unfolding just weeks into Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s tenure at DHS, partly in an effort to stabilize the agency ahead of hurricane season. He has been rolling back some of the most contentious changes made under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was fired by President Donald Trump last month.
Related reading:
New York Times, 3/20/2024
Vanessa Friedman reports:
As the race to be Donald J. Trump’s running mate heats up, Ms. Noem’s new smile reflects a tactical move that has as much to do with politics and psychology as it does with appearance. Image Ms. Noem, in a previous incarnation, addressing a CPAC meeting in 2011.
“It’s all about her appeal to an audience of one,” Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist, said. “The whole teeth thing almost looks like it was done for Trump to see. She is showing him she works well in front of the camera, that she has that star power he wants onstage with him, while fitting into the mode of women in the Trump universe.” [emphasis added]
Mr. Trump was, after all, the president who often identified his staff members, especially members of the military, as coming from “central casting.” [emphasis added]
Actually, it's much more than the smile, Vanessa.
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The Melanias leave behind a sketchy legacy in South Dakota. (6/24)2024
Dear Maggie Haberman: Maybe Kristi Noem can go as Melania's alternate. Who would know the difference? Best, Retiring Guy, (11/13)
