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Secretary Kristi Noem fast-tracked disaster relief after campaign donor intervened, ProPublica reports

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published October 1, 2025 at 11:40 AM EDT

People who live in areas affected by natural disasters say the federal government is too slow to respond. One reason for that delay is a directive from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requiring her office to individually review any expense over $100,000.

There is one way to get your recovery project funded fast, however: Have a campaign donor intervene.

Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with reporter Joshua Kaplan about a project in Florida that got fast-tracked after one of Noem’s donors got involved.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Here & Now Newsroom