Jared Moskowitz reportedly being eyed to lead FEMA under Donald Trump

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Parkland is reportedly a leading candidate to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under President-elect Donald Trump.

The sophomore federal lawmaker, who headed up the Florida Division of Emergency Management during the pandemic under Gov. Ron DeSantis, is a “top contender” for the job, CNN senior reporter Steve Contorno reported.

Moskowitz, 43, worked for nearly a decade at AshBritt Inc., a Deerfield Beach-based emergency management company, before accepting the Governor’s appointment in January 2019.

He held the state job for two and a half years, earning the nickname “Master of Disaster.”

Florida Politics contacted Moskowitz and his acting communications director, Keith Nagy, for comments but received no response by press time.

A former Florida House member and Broward County Commissioner, Moskowitz has developed a reputation as a deft, persuasive policymaker with a sharp tongue and penchant for crossing the political aisle.

Since winning his seat representing Florida’s 23rd Congressional District in 2022, Moskowitz has repeatedly called for the replenishment of FEMA funds before and after natural disasters struck the Sunshine State.

That included legislation he filed in June to provide $7 billion in supplemental funding to the agency before the August deadline, another measure in October to earmark $10 billion for FEMA relief efforts after Hurricane Helene struck the Sunshine State, and legislation in September, co-sponsored by Louisiana Republican U.S. Rep. Garret Graves to again make FEMA a Cabinet-level agency.

Moskowitz also proposed clearing $8 billion in loans to hurricane-hit small businesses in Florida and creating a national catastrophic insurance fund to more widely “spread the risk” and prevent Florida’s insurance market from tanking.

He joined U.S. Sen. Rick Scott in urging congressional leaders to call Senators and Representatives back to Washington this year to ensure disaster funding was available.

Other proposals included bipartisan pushes for more FEMA flexibility in debris collection and removal, federal standards for parental notification during school emergencies and a cap on student loan interest rates.

Moskowitz’s name being in the mix for FEMA Administrator, a role Deanne Criswell has held since April 2021, may appear unconventional and counterintuitive for Trump’s second administration. The Democrat hasn’t shied away from criticizing the incoming President, reminding others on Capitol Hill that COVID lockdowns began under Trump, not Joe Biden, and blasting Trump’s pick of Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence as “reckless.”

He also lambasted Trump’s allies in Congress for stalling impeachment proceedings against Biden, asking at one point, “Are we going to schedule impeachment … or is this just ‘concepts’ of an impeachment?” That was a sly reference to Trump’s assertion during the second presidential debate this year that he had “concepts of a plan” to replace Obamacare, which the former President has targeted for repeal since before his 2016 candidacy.

But Moskowitz was also compassionate toward Trump after an attempted assassination attempt on the former President in mid-July, the first of two such attempts ahead of the November election. He called for authorities to “urgently investigate” the shocking incident and joined Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna in a plea for national unity.

Moskowitz was among six Democrats nominated by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to a congressional committee tasked with looking into the assassination attempt. Republicans named to the panel included Laurel Lee of Thonotosassa and Michael Waltz of St. Augustine Beach. Trump has since tapped Waltz, a Green Beret combat veteran, as his national security adviser.

The issue grew more personal last month after Moskowitz revealed a “potential plot” against his life had been foiled by the Margate Police Department. He expressed concerns “about Congressional member security and the significant lack thereof” while visiting their home districts in Florida.

“Regardless of our political affiliations or differences, we all have families we want to keep safe,” he said.

Shortly after taking office in Congress in early 2023, Moskowitz announced an initiative to meet for lunch with some of his Republican colleagues to “show the American people that you can adamantly disagree with your neighbors and still act normal.” He followed that up by creating the bipartisan “Congressional Sneaker Caucus” with Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon to bridge the partisan divide further.

Early this month, Moskowitz announced that he would be joining the Delivering on Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus to support a similarly named advisory commission helmed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy aimed at restructuring and downsizing federal agencies under Trump.

“I believe that streamlining government processes and reducing inefficient government spending should not be a partisan issue,” Moskowitz, the first Democrat to confirm his membership to the caucus, explained in a statement. “It’s been clear that there are ways we can reorganize our government to make it work better for the American people.”

Since he won the presidential election on Nov. 5, Trump has named numerous Florida notables to prominent posts in his coming administration. Other appointees include U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, Susie Wiles as Chief of Staff, Pam Bondi as Attorney General, Taylor Budowich as Deputy Chief of Staff, Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General, and Kimberly Guilfoyle as U.S. Ambassador to Greece.

Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Panhandle Republican with whom Moskowitz collaborated on legislation to honor a former volunteer Fire Chief killed during the July assassination attempt, was Trump’s first pick as Attorney General but withdrew from consideration last month.