FEMA found to have mismanaged BILLIONS during Covid pandemic: DHS report

The audit, which reviewed FEMA’s handling of pandemic-related funds from January 2020 to 2023, found that the agency "failed to follow established requirements when delivering Public Assistance funding." Among the findings was that FEMA distributed $1.5 billion to an unnamed state for medical staff without proper vetting, with the report explaining that the funds “could have been put to better use for other disasters.”

“These issues occurred due to the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and FEMA not following established requirements when delivering public assistance funding,” the report stated.

Additionally, FEMA disbursed $8.1 billion in "questioned costs"—expenses that have yet to be determined as allowable—and made $32.8 million in “improper payments.”

The revelation of FEMA’s financial mismanagement comes after Elon Musk’s DOGE team reported that the agency sent $59 million to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal immigrants.

“The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,” Musk posted on X on Monday. “Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order. That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!”

Following Musk’s findings, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin announced that FEMA is terminating four officials involved in the misuse of funds, including the agency’s Chief Financial Officer.

Musk has suggested FEMA should be shut down, and the agency could face cuts as the Trump administration continues efforts to downsize government operations. According to a report by the Daily Mail, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, suggested over the weekend that if President Trump asked her about the agency she would recommend he “get rid” of it.

Trump himself suggested the same in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, writing, "FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders, but left the people of North Carolina high and dry. It is now under review and investigation."

He went on to call FEMA under President Joe Biden a “disaster” and stated that it “should be terminated.” Trump argued that individual states should handle disaster response, stating, “Big savings, far more efficient.”