Rapid Readout: The Future of FEMA

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a Rapid Readout about the status of reform efforts for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Trump Administration and Congress are considering changes to pre-disaster preparedness, disaster response, and post-disaster recovery. This readout provided background on why FEMA reforms are on the table, unpack how communities could be affected, and outline the most prominent proposal, the bipartisan Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act of 2025 (H.R.4669). It also described what has happened to date with the FEMA Review Council, established by Executive Order 14180 in January 2025.

Highlights

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) plays a crucial role in coordinating with state, tribal, and local entities to respond to significant disasters. FEMA can deploy Incident Management Assistance Teams to assess needs on the ground; open disaster recovery centers; coordinate with agencies like the Red Cross, National Guard, or other federal partners; provide services such as temporary housing and debris removal; and fund repairs to roads, schools, and hospitals. But, reform is needed to address slow response times, inefficiency, and unequal aid distribution.  Recent administration actions regarding FEMA—from denials of disaster declaration requests to the defunding of bipartisan hazard mitigation grant programs—have made aid distribution erratic and less efficient.  FEMA’s focus on disaster resilience has grown in recent years. Efforts such as hazard mitigation grant programs, updating flood maps, and hardening infrastructure all work to restore communities, mitigate disaster risk, and reduce future taxpayer burden. The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which the Trump Administration recently canceled, was established to help communities reduce disaster risk through competitive grants for large-scale infrastructure projects. The Trump Administration established the FEMA Review Council in early 2025 to explore FEMA reform options. The council is expected to release a report with their recommendations at the end of December. Congressional reform efforts include the bipartisan Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act (H.R.4669), sponsored by Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), which was approved by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in September 2025. The bill would restore FEMA as an independent agency, sharpen the required qualifications for the role of FEMA Administrator, shift assistance for communities from a reimbursement model to a grant-based model, create a universal disaster aid application for individuals, increase the federal cost share for states that create pre-approved hazard mitigation project plans, and overhaul the BRIC program while removing the competitive nature of its grant structure.