DOGE focuses on millions in migrant hotels billed to US taxpayers as DHS Sec. Noem targets FEMA

Fox News national correspondent Madison Scarpino has the latest from Atlanta on ‘Fox News Live.’

The government’s leading disaster relief agency reportedly spent millions on hotels for illegal immigrants just last week, according to Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration’s efforts to cut government spending.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by the tech billionaire, has been conducting a sweep of federal funding and identifying areas in which “waste” within the government can be slashed.

Musk found his most recent target in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the government’s disaster relief branch that recently sparked concern over a reported lack of funds during Hurricane Helene.

“The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,” Musk claimed in a post on X on Monday morning.

During former President Biden’s term, FEMA faced backlash after it was reported that while they lacked the necessary funds needed to help Hurricane Helene victims, they were dishing out money that ended up being used to aid illegal immigrants.

Speaker Mike Johnson clarified that emergency relief funding is separate from FEMA funds allocated to immigration, but said that the agency should not have any part in funding the border crisis.

FEMA partners with Customs and Border Control (CBP) and administers money to the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a government-funded program that provides assistance and housing for illegal immigrants released into the U.S.

In his message Monday, Musk charged that “sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” which put FEMA under review to improve the agency’s “efficacy, priorities and competence.”

“That money is meant for American disaster relief,” Musk wrote.

A New York City Hall spokesperson confirmed to Fox that the city had received funds “through the past week” that were allocated by the Biden administration for the purpose of housing and supporting illegal immigrants.

Of the $59.3 million, $19 million was for direct hotel costs, while the balance funded other services such as food and security. According to NY City Hall, the funds were not part of a disaster relief grant.

Migrants are seen sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on July 31, 2023.  (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service)

The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital that those who made the payment will be “held accountable.”

“As Secretary Noem said yesterday, we must get rid of FEMA the way it exists today. This is yet another egregious example,” DHS said in a statement. “Individuals who circumvented leadership and unilaterally made this payment will be fired and held accountable.”

The report comes just one day after Secretary Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, suggested getting rid of FEMA “the way it exists today.”

After Hurricane Helene made its deadly sweep across the south in the fall, Republican lawmakers warned that “FEMA’s continued entanglement in DHS’ efforts to respond to the border crisis could impact its readiness and emergency response mission.”

President Donald Trump has also called for FEMA to be reformed, suggesting during his first week in office that states be in control of their own disaster funding.

“FEMA has turned out to be a disaster,” Trump said while delivering remarks on the Hurricane Helene damage in January. “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away, and we pay directly — we pay a percentage to the state.”