A temporary housing program for Maui wildfire survivors was one of hundreds of federal disaster assistance programs left in limbo due to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s insistence on scrutinizing all expenses over $100,000, according to a new report released Wednesday by Senate Democrats.
The report found that Noem’s policy of personally reviewing large department grant and contract awards delayed the approval of disaster aid by an average of three weeks. Sometimes, the delays were much longer, according to the findings of a review of data leaked by government whistleblowers to U.S. Sens. Andy Kim of New Jersey and Gary Peters of Michigan.
The data came from an approval tracker created to monitor the consequences of Noem’s June directive implementing the policy, according to the report. It detailed the status of department-funded projects as of Sept. 8, at which point Noem still had not reviewed Hawai‘i’s Aug. 4 request to renew the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program, which thousands of survivors have relied on for temporary housing and financial assistance since losing their homes in the August 2023 blaze.
Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green, center left, and his wife, Jaime Kanani Green, joined President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on a tour of the damage in Lahaina after the Aug. 8, 2023, fires. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2023)
For more than five months, hundreds of displaced Maui families were unsure whether they would be forced to find a new place to live until Noem eventually approved the extension in late January. The program was scheduled to end last week, but Noem agreed to extend it through Feb. 10 of next year.
Across the country, the senators identified at least 1,034 FEMA contracts, grants or disaster assistance awards that had been delayed or were left pending in September, including requests related to aid programs for survivors of deadly natural disasters like the July 2025 flash floods that killed 138 people in Central Texas, the September 2024 hurricane that killed at least 250 people in the southeastern United States and the April 2025 tornadoes that left at least 10 people dead in Tennessee. Noem had only verbally approved approximately 13% of all requests, including those that were delayed, the report states.
Kim and Peters, both ranking members of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on Wednesday morning called for Noem to end the policy, saying that allowing it to continue creates widespread bureaucratic gridlock and diminishes FEMA’s ability to provide timely support for disaster survivors.
“Communities across our country are bearing the consequences of Kristi Noem’s failures as Secretary,” Kim said in a statement. “For an administration that touts the importance of efficiency, her needless red tape is proven to have left vulnerable communities without crucial funding when they needed it most.”
According to the report, Noem’s directive also violates the Post‑Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, which prohibits actions that “significantly and substantially” reduce FEMA’s missions, authorities and responsibilities.
Roughly 167 temporary homes were built for Maui fire survivors at FEMA’s Kilohana Temporary Group Housing Project in Lahaina. (Léo Azambuja/Civil Beat/2024)
The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that there is no evidence of a three-week average wait for aid decisions.
“Contrary to claims in the forthcoming report, there are no systemic delays,” DHS said in the statement. “In fact, Secretary Noem’s review process was specifically designed to break through bureaucratic red tape and expedite funding requests that had previously languished for years under prior administrations.”
Peters and Kim urged Noem to provide Congress with a “full and accurate accounting of all delays caused by the policy,” and the DHS Office of Inspector General to assess the waste, harms and avoidable costs created by the directive and its associated delays.
A statement from the governor’s office provided by Press Secretary Erika Engle on Wednesday afternoon did not comment on the report or its findings, but it said that Noem’s decision to approve the temporary housing program for fire survivors aligned with Green’s commitment to continue state-supported housing assistance.
“Governor Green personally reached out to Secretary Noem and the administration to advocate for the extension, emphasizing the ongoing housing challenges on Maui and the need for continuity as families rebuild their lives,” according to the statement. “She approved the request that same day.”
The extension will provide greater certainty for survivors and allow state and county agencies to “continue coordinating long-term housing solutions without disruption,” the statement says.
Maui County officials had not reviewed the report as of Wednesday afternoon so were unable to comment on its findings, according to a statement from the county communications office.
FEMA Response To The Maui Wildfires
Federally funded housing programs have been critical to post-disaster recovery efforts on Maui since the island was devastated by the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires that killed 102 people, destroyed thousands of structures and displaced nearly 13,000 people.
Almost 1,300 households have been housed in units leased directly from landlords or in temporary units, including 167 modular homes at the Kilohana Temporary Group Housing Project in Lahaina. Others have been provided with rental assistance. In January, nearly 1,000 households still lived in temporary housing or relied on rental assistance provided by FEMA, according to a statement from the agency.
In response to an email requesting comment Wednesday, FEMA’s Region 9 News Desk sent an automatic reply that said its response may be delayed “due to the lapse in federal government funding.”
DHS said in its statement that “FEMA continues to actively process and release billions in aid, including a recent allocation of $5 billion in disaster assistance. Allegations of ‘ad hoc’ processes ignore the rigorous oversight and auditing mechanisms implemented to restore integrity to federal disaster operations. The Department remains committed to the FEMA mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters while ensuring every tax dollar is spent lawfully and effectively.”
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