Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been exerting more direct control over the agency, which President Donald Trump has talked about "getting rid of."

The homeland security secretary said a report that thousands of calls to a disaster hotline went unanswered because of staffing cuts was “false.”

Since the July 4 disaster, which has killed at least 120 people, the president and his top aides have focused on the once-in-a-lifetime nature of