Sen. Ted Budd used a vote Tuesday afternoon as a warning shot to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to stop delaying the release of funding for Helene relief to Western North Carolina.

It’s an unusual step for Budd, who almost always votes with President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Budd, a Republican from Davie County, voted against a procedure that allowed the Senate to move forward with Trump’s nomination of Robert Law as the Department of Homeland Security’s undersecretary for strategy, policy and plans.

“This is not about Robert Law,” Budd told McClatchy exclusively. “I’m fine with him, and we’ll vote for passage on him, but I’m trying to get the attention of those at DHS that are being slow to reimburse North Carolina for funds already spent.”

He expanded on his frustration.

“You’ve got towns in Western North Carolina that have already spent over $30 million out of their own pocket, for things that are fit to be federally reimbursed,” Budd said, adding that the money had already been approved by Congress.

He told McClatchy exclusively that though he wasn’t able to stop Law’s nomination, he put holds on three of Trump’s other nominees for Homeland Security positions that should prevent the nominations from reaching the floor.

A hold allows a single senator, through a party leader, to prevent or delay a nomination from moving forward.

Budd put holds on:

•James Percival for general counsel

•Sean Plankey for director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

•Pedro Allende for undersecretary for science and technology.

Budd and Sen. Lisa Murkowski were the only Republicans who voted against the procedural step, known as cloture, for Law. After speaking with McClatchy, Budd made his way to the Senate floor to vote to approve Law’s nomination.

“I think he’s a fine nominee. It’s that there is a problem at DHS and FEMA, and it’s a backlog that should not have been allowed.”

Money being held up

Under a new procedure set up by Noem in June, she personally is reviewing any Federal Emergency Management Agency spending over $100,000 before it can be paid.

“Every day I get up and I think, the American people are paying this, should they?” Noem said in an appearance on CBS News over the weekend. “And are these dollars doing what the law says they should be doing? I’m going to make sure that they go there and they’re spent on what’s appropriate according to the law, and that the taxpayers understand that it’s a worthwhile effort.”

As Budd sat on a couch in the Capitol building, he said Henderson County officials are waiting for a $30 million reimbursement. He said despite it being a well-run county, that’s not money they can be without.

“Pretty much everything Helene-related is over $100,000,” Budd said. “So they’re stacking up on her desk waiting for her signature to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars, but it doesn’t make sense given the fact that she’s keeping a very active travel schedule. There are other Senate-confirmed appointees that could be delegated authority. This doesn’t have to be something that stacks up.”

Among Noem’s scheduled travel is an event in Western North Carolina the last weekend of September, unrelated to Helene relief.

Budd said he has been reaching out to Noem’s office every three to four weeks, telling her about the backup in refunds.

“I can’t get phone calls back,” Budd said. “I can’t get them to initiate the money. It’s just a quagmire that I now have to resolve. President Trump could fix it, but I’m trying to work this at an administration level. (DHS) is just being way too slow.”

Don Campbell, the chief of staff for North Carolina Emergency Management, told the Charlotte Observer that the already slow reimbursement process has been made slower under Noem and the Department of Government Efficiency.

North Carolina was waiting on $64 million as of Sept. 4, which was down from $115 million last month, the Observer reported.

FEMA denied in August that Noem’s extra review has slowed the process.

Budd stressed that he does not blame Trump for Noem’s actions. He said the White House has been fully supportive of getting the money from DHS, but he doesn’t feel that the president should have to get involved.

“President Trump is all about Western North Carolina,” Budd said. “But there are people — between the towns in Western North Carolina and President Trump — that are getting shafted right now, by those in his administration. I don’t think they’re serving Western North Carolina well, and I know they’re not serving President Trump well.”

Asked if he regrets his vote to approve Trump’s nomination of Noem, Budd said: “I have nothing on record for that.” He then added, “Prove my vote for her right. I would say I voted, I supported her. She’s a colleague of mine from the House. Keep proving me right.”

Budd said when he considered what he could do to fix the situation, he realized “the tools in his toolbelt” included placing holds on further nominations.

Cloture on Law’s nomination had already been filed, which means the Senate had to bring it to the floor.

But placing holds on the other nominations, since cloture had not yet been filed, could stall the nominations indefinitely.

©2025 The News & Observer. Visit at newsobserver.com. Distributed at Tribune Content Agency, LLC.