Weeks before flash floods devastated the Texas Hill Country, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) participated in the first meeting of a new council to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He criticized FEMA as “slow and clunky,” arguing that states are able to respond “more nimbly, more swiftly, more effectively” to disasters.

The Department of Homeland Security secretary defended the federal government's response and denied that policy changes slowed the agency's deployment.

The federal response to the flash flooding disaster in Texas has come under scrutiny. President Trump, who has called for cuts to FEMA, praised the agency during his recent visit to Texas, but did not comment on his plans for its future.

As monstrous floodwaters surged across central Texas late last week, officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency leapt into action, preparing to deploy critical search and rescue teams and life-saving resources,

Cuts made to the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Trump administration severely impaired its ability to respond to the devastating floods in central Texas.

There are questions over why oversight was eased at Mystic Camp as it expanded in a hazardous floodplain, the AP reported.

Rachel Maddow drew parallels Monday between the Trump administration's response to Texas' flooding and George W. Bush's to Hurricane Katrina.

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