Uncertainty around the Trump administration’s plans for the Federal Emergency Management Agency is affecting North Carolina’s state legislators as they plan how to negotiate the next budget.
Seven months since Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina, state lawmakers and other North Carolina officials tell NOTUS they have no idea what will happen with FEMA, or what to say to increasingly frustrated residents still trying to rebuild after the devastating floods.
There’s plenty of finger-pointing happening in the state — just not all in the same direction. State Democrats want their Republican counterparts to push back against the Trump administration’s suggested plans to dismantle FEMA and its move to end major relief grants. Other Democrats told NOTUS they don’t think North Carolina Republicans are behind the dysfunction.