DISASTER RESPONSETrump Wants States to Handle Disasters without FEMA. They Say They Can’t.
Trump has called the FEMA a “disaster” and suggested it might “go away.” He said states would best take care of hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires on their own, with the federal government reimbursing some of the costs. But emergency managers say the federal agency’s role is irreplaceable.
Editor’s note: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she supports the idea of getting “rid of FEMA” as part of President Donald Trump’s massive overhaul of the federal government.
“I would say, yes, get rid of FEMA the way it exists today,” Noem said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “We still need the resources and the funds and the finances to go to people that have these types of disasters, like Hurricane Helene and the fires in California, but you need to let the local officials make the decisions on how that is deployed.”
State and local emergency managers are facing a serious question in the wake of President Donald Trump’s first few weeks in office: When disaster strikes, will they be able to count on the federal government?
Trump has called the Federal Emergency Management Agency a “disaster” and suggested it might “go away.” He said states would best take care of hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires on their own, with the federal government reimbursing some of the costs. He convened a council to review FEMA and recommend “improvements or structural changes.”
But leaders in states that have been hit by disasters say they need more than the promise of an eventual federal check to manage catastrophic events. They say they’re not equipped to handle the roles FEMA currently plays — such as marshaling emergency resources from multiple federal agencies, providing flood insurance, conducting damage assessments and distributing billions of dollars in recovery funds.
“FEMA has been an absolute lifesaver for people,” said Vermont state Sen. Anne Watson, a Democrat who has been involved in the state’s recovery from devastating 2023 floods. “I don’t see [states and municipalities] as being able to replicate what FEMA does. The possibility of it going away leaves millions and millions of Americans in a very vulnerable position.”
Meanwhile, Trump said last month that he wanted to make federal wildfire recovery aid to Los Angeles conditional on California enacting new laws requiring voter identification, adding further uncertainty about whether states can expect help from the feds.
Trump and his allies also targeted the agency in the wake of Hurricane Helene, spreading lies that FEMA, under President Joe Biden, was diverting disaster money to immigrants without legal status; failing to provide helicopters; limiting aid to $750 per person; and cutting off support for Republican areas.
