If your family is like mine, you are transfixed and shocked at the devastation Hurricane Helene has visited on states in the southeast. Over 100 people have been killed, and many places are completely out of touch and without clean water and power. This brings up memories of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the first storm where a lot of people suddenly realized “climate change is here, and it’s dangerous.” Katrina also demonstrated, with deadly results, what happens if there is no coordinated, federal response to emergencies. While George W. Bush was thanking his FEMA Chief (“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job!”), the rest of us were witnessing a colossal failure of federal leadership.

Knowing how much FEMA is needed, and understanding how this need will increase due to climate change, you would think we would want to strengthen FEMA, especially to help with multi-state storms, like Hurricane Helene. The authors of Project 2025 disagree. Instead, they want to dismantle FEMA. Yes, you heard that right. On the Department of Homeland Security, they write:

“The bloated DHS bureaucracy and budget, along with the wrong priorities, provide real opportunities for a conservative Administration to cut billions in spending and limit government’s role in Americans’ lives. These opportunities include privatizing … the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program, reforming FEMA emergency spending to shift the majority of preparedness and response costs to states and localities instead of the federal government…”

— Mandate for Leadership, p. 135; emphasis mine.

Looking at the devastation across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, can you imagine how the people in those states would fare if “the majority of preparedness and response costs” were shifted to tight state budgets?

Vote Blue! Up and down the ticket! Protect our ability to protect and help each other!