U.S. News
Breaking: DOGE Gains Access To FEMA’s Systems
Comes after DOGE had exposed billions of dollars of wasteful spending at USAID and began its investigation into the Department of Education.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has gained access to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) internal systems, according to reports.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that DOGE has begun reviewing the agency’s grant programs and other financial information.
From WaPo:
Less than two weeks after President Donald Trump said his administration would consider making the Federal Emergency Management Agency “go away,” representatives of Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service were at the agency and reviewing the grant programs it uses to help communities prepare for and respond to disasters, according to four current and two former FEMA officials.
The presence of DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, at FEMA has caused uncertainty and confusion, raising fears that Trump could soon follow through on his pledge to dismantle the agency, as his administration is doing with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
According to the officials, a small team that does not have security clearance has access to FEMA’s network, which contains the private and sensitive information of tens of thousands of disaster victims. For example, FEMA officials said that on Feb. 5, Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old former college student who goes by the moniker “Big Balls” online and now works for Musk, was given a FEMA badge. The officials, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fears of professional retaliation.
This comes after DOGE had exposed billions of dollars of wasteful spending at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) this week and began its investigation into the Department of Education on Friday.
President Donald Trump last month criticized FEMA over its poor responses to recent disasters such as Hurricanes Milton and Helene in the South and the devastating wildfires in Southern California.
“FEMA has not done their job for the last four years. You know, I had FEMA working really well. We had hurricanes in Florida. We had Alabama tornadoes. But unless you have certain types of leadership, it’s really, it gets in the way. And FEMA is going to be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” Trump said.
Not only had FEMA failed to adequately respond to these disasters, but whistleblowers within FEMA revealed the culture of political persecution against conservatives, claiming they were instructed not to provide aid to disaster victims if they appeared to be Trump supporters.
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