EXCLUSIVE: Lankford Pushes For Full Probe Into The Government’s Disaster Response

Senator James Lankford (R-OK) on Tuesday introduced a bill to mandate a full review of the federal government’s handling of natural disasters as agencies like FEMA face criticism over their response to recent hurricanes. 

Lankford put forth the ‘‘Natural Disaster Resilience and Recovery Accountability Act” to create a new commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the efficiency of the government’s natural disaster programs. The commission would examine how the government is using taxpayer dollars and devise policy recommendations to improve the federal response to natural disasters. 

“Oklahomans know the federal disaster system isn’t working,” Lankford told The Daily Wire. “President Trump is taking quick action to fix it, and my legislation builds on that by reviewing how federal tax dollars are spent on disasters and finding ways to make government more efficient.”

President Donald Trump has slammed FEMA over its sluggish response to aid flooded communities in North Carolina and raised concerns about political bias at the agency pointing to a Daily Wire report showing how one supervisor ordered relief workers to skip homes with Trump flags. 

The legislation from Lankford, first shared with The Daily Wire, would create a 15-member commission composed of federal and state officials, relief workers, and other experts to “examine and recommend administrative and legislative reforms to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and budget funding of programs and activities of Federal agencies supporting natural disaster resilience and recovery.”

Trump on Friday signed an executive order that would create a 20-person council to conduct a full review of FEMA. The commission created by Lankford’s bill would follow that proposal and look at the full federal handling of and spending on disasters. Each federal program related to natural disasters would be put under the microscope of the commission for evaluation. 

Once assembled, the commission would have two years to produce a report with recommendations to improve the efficiency of the government’s response by evaluating all related federally funded activities. The report would be sent to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and the House Oversight Committee. 

The commission would work with a variety of departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The commission would consider “potential administrative changes to the roles and responsibilities of the various Federal agencies involved in natural disaster resilience and recovery.”

Trump has promised to fundamentally reform FEMA and has floated the idea of getting rid of the agency altogether. He suggested handing over the responsibility of emergency responses to the states with funding from the federal government.

“I love Oklahoma, but you know what? If they get hit with a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it,” Trump said last week. “And then the federal government can help them out with the money.”

Vice President JD Vance reiterated the Trump administration’s approach on Monday during a visit to flood-ravaged Virginia, saying that they would work to slash the bureaucracy from multiple federal departments holding up emergency relief.