FEMA Should be Separate from Homeland Security; DHS is Too Clunky

This is a return to an old theme, but since it doesn't appear to be happening as some have suggested, I'm going to revisit it.

Two years ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I wrote that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) needed to be separated from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as DHS was overbuilt and too unwieldy to move quickly in a disaster. And since that time, Congress has held hearings, FEMA people have resigned, and a lot of window dressing has taken place.

It's not enough.

FEMA should be an independent agency that can move it's assets around at will without going through several layers of DHS bureaucracy to get permission to do so. This was the primary reason for the slowness of FEMA to get into position prior to Katrina and to mobilize once the hurricane roared ashore and swamped New Orleans. The left hand had no idea what the right hand was doing.

The only reason that FEMA should be subordinate to DHS is in the event of a terrorist-related disaster. FEMA needs it's own budget, it's own chain of command, and a direct line to the White House with a cabinet-level secretary.

This needs to happen and soon.