WYFF: “A letter with 126 names from people all across WNC…in it is a request to remove Michael Whatley from the FEMA Review Council”

Brand new reporting from WYFF reveals more than 100 Western North Carolinians are calling on DC insider Michael Whatley to be replaced on the FEMA Review Council due to his failure to deliver federal Hurricane Helene relief after the President named him “recovery czar” nine months ago.

The calls for Whatley’s replacement follows “growing frustration” from both sides of the aisle. In recent weeks, Western North Carolinians have slammed Whatley, “expressing anger” that he was “absent” and saying he “is to blame” for the delays. Even Ted Budd and Chuck Edwards sounded the alarm over the delays in federal relief, with Budd calling it a “problem” that “should not have been allowed.” 

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WYFF: “What I’ve got right in my hand right here is a letter with 126 names from people all across WNC, and Anna Caldwell is one of them. She says she and more than 100 others feel that they’ve been left behind in the aftermath of the hurricane and they need more funding as WNC heads into the colder months. 

“Now, she says this letter is the answer… In it is a request to remove Michael Whatley from the FEMA Review Council. He’s President Trump’s appointee and a Republican running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina.”

Anna Caldwell: “We’re hoping that if we could get someone to maybe come out with a fresh set of eyes, and hopefully a little more enthusiasm, to kind of take a look at what still needs to be done here that that could probably help galvanize the recovery and the flow of funding.”

“Michael Whatley has failed Western North Carolinians, plain and simple,” said Mallory Payne, senior communications advisor for the North Carolina Democratic Party. “If he can’t deliver for Western North Carolina when they need it most, why would voters ever trust he’ll deliver for them in the U.S. Senate? Whatley is a DC insider and Big Oil lobbyist who will always put billionaires and special interests while leaving North Carolina behind.”

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