TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Gov. Ron DeSantis made a stop in Tampa Thursday to help kick off the Florida State Fair, and while there, he attended the annual governor’s luncheon.

That’s where he spoke about two issues that have recently gotten national attention.

The governor announced his support for President Donald Trump looking to remove FEMA as a middleman after a disaster.

“You’ve got folks with Milton and Helene who are still battling FEMA,” DeSantis said. We’d be able to administer this so much quicker.”

As of Wednesday, so far, FEMA has approved more than $620 million in individual assistance for Floridians after Hurricane Milton. And more than $680 million after Hurricane Helene.

The idea was initially proposed by President Trump while he was visiting Western North Carolina last month.

“I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away. And we pay directly, we pay a percentage to the state. The state should fix this,” Trump said.

Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet, from Colorado, interpreted those remarks as getting rid of the agency, which would need congressional approval. Democrats are also concerned that some states may not be able to manage disasters on their own.

“I mean, if there’s one reason we’re one nation under God, it’s to deal with disasters,” Bennet said. “So no, we shouldn’t get rid of it.”

The governor said that’s not President Trump’s intent. He said FEMA could give a lump sum to a state, like Florida, and allow leaders to manage the operational and financial aspects of a disaster.

“If a disaster comes, you can take whatever that amount is typically, send 80% of that block grant to the state, cut the bureaucracy of FEMA out entirely and that money will go further than it does at greater amounts than it does going through FEMA’s bureaucracy,” DeSantis said.

The governor also agreed that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, should cut spending at federal agencies and slash regulations.

“The DOGE is kind of the first real significant intrusion into the bureaucrat’s aura of invincibility,” DeSantis said. “What Elon is doing is really good. I think it’s great to be able to see a lot of the corruption being rooted out.”
Republicans have welcomed DOGE working to shut down the government’s main humanitarian aid agency, reduce the federal workforce through buyouts, and even end subscriptions to certain media outlets.

DeSantis blames congress, including members of his own party, for failing to keep an eye on federal agencies and reduce spending.

“You look at the last 15 years, Republicans have controlled the U.S. House of Representatives more than Democrats have controlled the House of Representatives and that’s where the power of the purse is,” DeSantis said.
Democratic State Rep. Lindsay Cross, who represents taxpayers in St. Petersburg, questions who has oversight of DOGE.

“It’s just causing so much uncertainty and chaos,” Cross said.

Rep. Cross fears the department may slash too much money and too many regulations that may hurt businesses and non-profits.

“It’s easy to think of these things that we just have this big federal government, and we need to cut all this fat. But a lot of this money goes to private industries to help support those missions,” Cross said.