1. United States
2. Minn.
3. Letter

Kristi Noem and DHS use of its budget need to be investigated as she cuts funding for FEMA as people need it most. The day after the Texas floods hit, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) received 3,027 calls from survivors and answered 3,018 of them, about 99.7%, according to Maxine Joselow of the New York Times. But that day, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did not renew the contracts for four call center companies that answered those calls. The staff at the centers were fired. The next day, July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered 846, or about 35.8%. On Monday, July 7, FEMA received 16,419 calls and answered 2,613, around 15.9%. Instead, Secretary Noem spent $200 million on ad campaigns against immigrants, raids cities and farms that have injured and killed, and arrested US citizens. This is not leadership or protecting US interests. It is intimidation and waste of our tax payer dollars. It is also illegal, if for no other reason than over spending the DHS budget as Senator Murphy pointed out. This needs to be investigated and America's money used legally and appropriately. Not for intimidation and ad campaigns while US citizens needing help have their literally ignored during disasters.