CNN: Four Officials from FEMA Say Kristi Noem’s Sign-Offs on Expenditures ‘Slowed the Federal Response’

EXCERPT:

COOPER: "So, according to four officials inside FEMA, that federal response may not have been as fast as it might have been. They say that a new rule that any expenditure over $100,000 needed sign-off from Secretary Noem slowed the federal response. These sources tell us that FEMA‘s deployment of urban search and rescue teams, which are typically deployed in anticipation they might be needed, instead was delayed until Monday, three days after the flood. Now, a source also tells us that a request Texas made for FEMA aerial imagery to aid in the search was also delayed waiting for Secretary Noem‘s approval. Now, additionally, multiple FEMA officials say that they were taken aback by the agency‘s relatively limited response in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. CNN has reached out to FEMA for comment. So far, no reply from the agency.”