Crews worked for 53 hours nonstop after arriving on the scene in Santo Domingo shortly after midnight on April 8, rescuing 189 survivors.

Padilla's office said the senator was in the building for a military briefing and stepped into Noem's event. In a statement, DHS defended the actions of the agents.

The cuts to the lowest-income households come from proposed cuts to social safety net programs including Medicaid and SNAP.