Former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, who served under President George W. Bush during Hurricane Katrina, insisted Thursday that it is up to local and state authorities, not federal officials, to be in charge of dealing with preparing for and responding to hurricanes, even though the blame for any issues often falls on the White House.
"The federal involvement of this is governed by a law passed in 1968 called the Stafford Act," Rove, now a contributor for Fox News, told "Fox and Friends."
"What it says is people who are in charge of natural disasters like this are governors of the respected affected states. They're in charge. So they have to have a plan."
The plans come from years of "discussion, improvements, revisions, reexaminations," said Rove, and are in writing under the charge of states' disaster emergency services officials.
"The number one thing, you plan for this moment and execute your plan," said Rove. "The second thing is, be clear what you need from the federal government. The federal government is there to write checks, provide specialized services a state may not have."
Show co-host Brian Kilmeade said the Bush administration wasn't "perfect" during Katrina, "but we know local [authorities] deserved almost all the blame." He added that President Donald Trump will likely face blame for the response to Hurricane Dorian.
"That is why the FEMA and Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel are holding the hands of these governors and their emergency people all the way up to the coastline from Florida all the way up," said Rove.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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