Hurricane season bears down as bipartisan lawmakers push to detach FEMA from 'partisan' DHS

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With parts of the U.S. hunkering down for an intense hurricane season, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers is pushing to unchain the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from the layers of government bureaucracy they say have "bogged" the agency down.

Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Garret Graves, R-La., come from two states that have traditionally borne the brunt of the summer storm season. They want House leadership to take up their bill aimed at elevating FEMA to a Cabinet level position as soon as possible ahead of the rough weather period.

"The predictions are not good," Moskowitz said of the coming storm season. "But now is the time for people to prepare in the community. Now's the time to take advantage."

FEMA sits under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where it was relegated when the department was created after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

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Moskowitz and Graves disagree over whether that was the right move – but both insisted it’s an untenable situation today.

"Look, Homeland Security is becoming a little more partisan in the eyes of Congress…I’ve got to make sure that disaster management doesn't become partisan. Disasters don't strike Democrats or Republicans. It strikes everybody, it strikes Americans," Moskowitz said.

Graves told