'Don't get rid of the whole organization': Red state GOP leader breaks with Trump on FEMA

29 August

CNN host Boris Sanchez and Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser (R) on CNN on August 29, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via CNN / YouTube)

Friday, August 29 marks the 20-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall in Louisiana, where it killed more than 1,500 people. Now, the Bayou State's number-two official is publicly breaking with President Donald Trump's administration over its approach to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In an interview with CNN host Boris Sanchez, Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser (R) described how he decided to run for office due to the poor response from elected officials in the wake of Katrina. Nungesser — who was president of Plaquemines Parish between 2007 and 2015 — said that states like Louisiana that lie directly in the path of deadly hurricanes are in need of more help from the federal government, not less. He specifically noted that FEMA will be essential as global warming worsens.

"FEMA is greatly needed. Even a state like Texas with more money than Louisiana, when there's a disaster, they rely on FEMA funds. So some kind of regional, more local FEMA representation may help cut out some of the red tape," he said. "FEMA organization is definitely needed in times of disaster. And with the warmer weather, more storms being stronger, we're going to need them more than ever going forward. and not just in Louisiana."

Sanchez told Nungesser that his position puts him "in disagreement with the Trump administration," reminding him that the current president has openly said he wants to eliminate the agency and offload its work to individual states. Nungesser maintained that if another storm like Katrina hit the Bayou State, Louisianans would suffer without federal aid.

"There's ways to fix things without throwing the baby out with the bathwater," Nungesser said. "... There's a better way to do it, but you don't get rid of the whole organization because it needs some serious overhaul. And that's with any agency. There's a lot of good that comes out of it. and that federal assistance is desperately needed."

Nungesser suggested that rather than abolish FEMA, the Trump administration could appoint various regional managers to disaster-prone areas that can get a lay of the land for what resources states currently have and what they need from the federal government in the wake of a disaster. He said that FEMA's lack of preparedness for Katrina prompted years of avoidable suffering. He also called on the Trump administration to commit to improving FEMA and providing states with more federal guarantees, rather than the current plan to "throw it out completely."

"You got to fix it and make it work better. But getting rid of FEMA would be a disaster for all of the states that that rely on FEMA after hurricane[s] and the flooding that's going on around this country and the forest fires and all the other disasters that seem to be happening more frequently," he said. "So an agency and federal assistance is needed more, more now than ever. We just got to get it organized and get it right, not just throw it out completely."

Watch the segment below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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