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Episode 45: FEMA Under Trump: How America's Disaster Response System Is Being Dismantled
Episode 45
When catastrophic floods hit Texas in July 2025, FEMA should have been the nation’s lifeline. Instead, survivors were met with unanswered calls, delayed rescues, and a gutted response system. In this episode, Bella Goode uncovers how Trump’s FEMA failed during one of the deadliest floods in state history and why the crisis revealed something far bigger: a federal disaster system being hollowed out, politicized, and possibly dismantled altogether. What happens when the agency Americans depend on is no longer built to function?
Key Takeaways To Listen For
- The 2025 Texas Hill Country flood: over 100 dead, thousands stranded, and FEMA missing in action
- Why FEMA’s call center collapsed—40,000 survivor calls went unanswered due to DHS red tape
- How Trump’s FEMA slashed staffing by 30% and reassigned disaster workers to ICE
- Dismantling of resilience programs like BRIC and Risk MAP—and what that means for communities
- Evidence of aid politicization: which states get help fast, and which are left waiting
- Trump’s stated plan to “wean off FEMA” and revert disaster response to the states
- Why a fractured, state-by-state disaster system leaves millions of Americans more vulnerable
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
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Bella Goode is a pseudonym — but the voice, research, and mission are all real. A Republican turned Democrat advocate in 2016, I was raised by middle class parents in Pennsylvania. I’m a former marketing executive, entrepreneur, and lifelong learner with an MBA from Wharton and a Master’s in Psychology from Penn. I spent decades telling stories in the business world; now I use those skills to connect the dots in American politics.
I’m here because the truth matters — and because the stakes have never been higher. Surviving Trump isn’t lighthearted. It’s clarity, evidence, and a fight for the future of our democracy.
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Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago