Since getting back to the Resolute desk, President Trump unveiled executive actions at a furious pace, many of them directly lifted from the infamous Project 2025 that his campaign had distanced itself from in the lead up to the election. One such policy is a push to defund, or even “terminate,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
At the end of his first week in office, Trump commented on FEMA, saying that it did not serve disaster-stricken areas and called its efforts “a disaster.” In those remarks, the president indicated that an executive order to “begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of them.” We didn’t have to wait long, with the EO issued that weekend.
The order starts a review of FEMA to be led jointly by the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense. Behind it is a mix of (legitimate) concerns about how FEMA manages longer term relief in areas recovering from disasters—in part as a result of longstanding capacity constraints—and everpresent conservative gripes over cost, grievances over helping immigrants, and a conspiracy that the agency denies aid to Trump supporters.
Part of why FEMA is able to be subjected to this kind of scrutiny is because, except when handling active emergencies, it has a relatively low profile. That’s why I suggested championing FEMA could have been a potent issue for Vice President Harris in her campaign. In particular, I suggested elevating the director to the cabinet. The public understands what a department, with a secretary, is a lot better than they understand sub-cabinet divisions, offices, administrations, agencies, and bureaus.
Because FEMA is too often left aside, shoehorned into the Department of Homeland Security, its profile is lowered, its director is not given the same degree of credence as other key executive branch personnel, and it becomes an easier target. As the severity and intensity of disasters increase with climate change, a robust emergency agency is needed now more than ever. It’s unlikely that Trump’s review will wind up with an improvement, and we don’t recommend holding your breath in anticipation.
Image credit: “First Lady Melania Trump Visits the FEMA Headquarters” by The White House is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.