Welcome to the online version of From the politics deskan evening newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail from the NBC News politics team.
In today’s edition, we dive into how President Donald Trump ended a whirlwind week with another new proposal that would significantly change the federal government’s role in disaster response. Also, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker examines what Trump has — and hasn’t — accomplished in his first few days in office.
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– Adam Wilner
Trump’s Latest Float: Disaster Aid Changes
President Donald Trump traveled today on his first trip since taking office, visiting two states that have been devastated by natural disasters in recent months, North Carolina and California. And he used that opportunity to turn to a familiar foe: the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
While Trump has been critical of the agency in the past, he went a step further on Friday, looking at an idea — or outright elimination — of FEMA.
“I would also sign an executive order to basically reform FEMA and begin the process of overhauling it, or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I think, frankly, FEMA is not good, Trump said.
He suggested cutting FEMA out of the process entirely for future natural disasters and allowing states to take responsibility for disaster response.
“I want to see states take care of disasters, states take care of hurricanes and hurricanes and everything else,” Trump said. “And I think you’ll find it a lot less expensive. You’ll do it in less than half the time and you’ll get a much faster response.
Context: FEMA traditionally does not work alone in responding to natural disasters to clear debris and provide humanitarian assistance, but also with state and local partners, write Elise Perlmutter-Gubiner, von Hillyard, and Alexandra Marquez. too
As it stands, both state governors and FEMA play a role in disaster response. Governors have the ability to declare states of emergency, control and coordinate their emergency management agencies, and deploy state resources such as the National Guard.
It is only when states make a formal request for federal aid — or when the situation clearly exceeds state and local capabilities — that the federal government steps in, requiring the president to sign a disaster declaration. Need to do.
Can Trump do it? To completely dismantle FEMA, he would need Congress to authorize it under the Presidential Reorganization Act. In short. , Trump could get support from both houses for authority to consolidate, reorganize or eliminate executive branch departments. The last one happened during the last one Reagan administration.
It’s unclear how receptive Republican lawmakers will be to that. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a moderate who has not been afraid to break with Trump in the past, said she had heard “disappointing reports about how FEMA is run” in recent natural disasters and that additional oversight and Hearings will be guaranteed.
But he added, “I still think you need some sort of FEMA-like agency at the federal level.”
Meanwhile, a Trump ally, Sen. Tommy Tubberville, R-Ala., said getting rid of FEMA “would probably be a good idea.”
What comes next: A White House official told Peter Alexander that Trump will sign an executive order today that would potentially reshape the Federal Emergency Management Agency by creating a task force to review it and recommend changes. takes the first step towards
What to know from 5 days of Trump’s presidency
There was plenty of other news from Trump and his administration today outside of the president’s FEMA remarks. Here are the lines above:
- Trump suggested he could withhold disaster aid to California over voter ID laws and disagreements over water policies.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci’s security clearance has been revoked and he has now hired his own security.
- Trump said he was “very surprised” that two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted against moving forward with the defense secretary nomination of Pat Hegsett. The final confirmation vote takes place tonight.
- Trump suggested in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Ukraine should not have fought when Russia attacked it.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 538 people on Thursday. That nearly doubles the agency’s average of 28,282 arrests during the month of September 2024, the most recent month for which data were available.
Follow live updates →
Trump told me what he wants to do when he takes office. How is it going so far?
By Kristen Welker
Last month, Donald Trump told me that he wanted to fix a number of issues immediately when he took office. He’s done some of that in his first five days as president, but some big issues are still on the table.
He didn’t rule out a violent apology on Jan. 6 when he spoke to “meet the press” in December, he did so on Monday. Trump also said he would seek to end birthright citizenship on his first day in office. He issued an executive order that sought to do so, though it is already facing legal challenges.
In our interview, Trump said he would sign executive orders on the southern border, energy and electric vehicles, which he also signed on Monday.
And after Trump told me late last week that he was considering delaying the ban on TechTalk, he signed an order on Monday directing the Justice Department to wait 75 days. Do not enforce the ban.
But some of Trump’s biggest campaign promises are on his to-do list.
Trump had said he would impose 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada on his first day in office. He didn’t go through with it, though he did say the tariffs could come in on February 1. While Trump sees tariffs as an important economic tool, he told me in December that he couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t raise prices. .
Trump also promised a swift end to the war in Ukraine, which is ongoing. He told me in December that Ukraine should prepare for less US aid in its fight against Russia after taking power.
In December, Trump also hinted that he was redefining his promises of “revenge,” telling me that “revenge will come through success” and a special investigation into former President Joe Biden. will withdraw his commitment to appoint a prosecutor.
But this week, Trump suggested Biden and his president were pardoned before leaving office, facing a congressional investigation, who told Fox News, “I spent four years Went through hell. I spent millions of dollars in legal fees. But I did it the hard way. It’s really hard to say they don’t have to go through all that.
We’ll talk about Trump’s first week in office, and what’s next on his agenda, at Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” where I’ll talk to Sens. .
Today’s other top stories
Scots Watch: Indicating that the barrier between church and state could be further weakened, the Supreme Court heard a bid by Oklahoma officials to approve the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school. agreed Read more → 
Raise the roof: A dozen GOP senators and 49 House Republicans — more than 20% of each caucus — had never before voted for legislation to raise the debt ceiling, highlighting the issues the party’s slim majority held. may be faced with implementing its agenda. Read more → 
Reply All: The Trump administration is testing a new way to email the entire federal workforce from a single email address. Read more → - speaking: Longtime federal workers say they have become pawns in a political war, that their DE work has been misunderstood, and that they fear they are under surveillance. Read more →
RFK files: Brandi Zdrozny made Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2019 trip to Samoa during a fatal vaccine accident. Read more →
That’s all from the politics desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner, Bridget Bowman and Ben Kamisar.
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