They and others affected by recent disasters across the country are calling on Congress to restore FEMA as an independent agency, one no longer beholden to what they call the politicized leadership of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Since the start of his second term, President Donald Trump has floated the idea of abolishing FEMA and has cut thousands of jobs from the agency. FEMA has faced backlash for delaying nearly $11 billion in promised reimbursements for states last year. After 20 states sued, a court ruled in December that FEMA can’t do that. The staffing and budget cuts of FEMA have turned these survivors into unlikely advocates seeking to reform a federal agency.