North Carolina Republicans want newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s attention.
All 10 Republicans in North Carolina’s House delegation wrote Mullin Wednesday, asking him to “prioritize a comprehensive review of all unallocated FEMA funds designated for Hurricane Helene relief.”
Hurricane Helene ripped through western North Carolina in September 2024, killing 107 people and leaving homes and infrastructure destroyed. Ever since, the state has been fighting with the federal government to unlock dollars for recovery.
In Congress, North Carolina Republicans have at times grown publicly frustrated with former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s handling of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Sen. Thom Tillis told Noem that she “failed at FEMA” — among other criticisms — during a Senate Judiciary hearing earlier this month. Sen. Ted Budd placed holds on all DHS nominees over the agency’s delaying billions of dollars’ worth of aid.
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The lawmakers’ Wednesday letter did not mention Noem or any of those past grievances, but it did allude to obstacles in securing aid.
“Identifying and addressing any administrative or procedural bottlenecks will be essential to ensuring that obligated funds reach communities in North Carolina as quickly as possible,” they wrote.
Mullin has already said he’d change one controversial Noem-era policy that North Carolina lawmakers disliked: a requirement that the secretary must approve any project costing $100,000 or more.
Roughly 2,000 projects seeking FEMA Public Assistance reimbursements — almost half of what the state submitted — remain in various stages of receiving agency approval, according to North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, who also wrote Mullin Wednesday, extending him an invitation to the state. Hundreds of properties also await approval of Hazard Mitigation Grant funds, which allow communities to rebuild in ways that mitigate future natural disaster damage.
Those funds have been halted by the Department of Homeland Security’s funding lapse, which Congress has yet to resolve.
The day after Mullin’s confirmation, Rep. Chuck Edwards invited Mullin to his district, which was ravaged by the storm.
“While federal partners have provided crucial assistance to date, the scale of Helene’s impact requires sustained attention and continued coordination across agencies,” Edwards wrote.
A spokesperson for Edwards did not immediately return a request for comment.
While the letter was sent from the Republicans in the delegation, the fight to secure federal funding for the state has been a bipartisan battle. Rep. Deborah Ross accused Noem of turning “a blind eye” to western North Carolina at a House hearing last month, and all four Democrats in the delegation introduced a bill to accelerate the flow of federal funding to western North Carolina.
Now that Mullin is in office, North Carolina Republicans are expressing optimism that the funds will begin to flow.
“Secretary Mullin has spent his career doing things the right way and not the easy way, and that is exactly what Western North Carolina needs right now,” Rep. Pat Harrigan told NOTUS in a statement. “I have full confidence he will cut through what has been a deeply frustrating process for families who deserve better, and I am committed to standing with him every step of the way.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment asking whether Mullin would review the unallocated funds.
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