Introduction The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been a cornerstone of national disaster response and recovery since its inception. However, recent political discourse and shifting disaster trends have underscored the need to reevaluate and overhaul FEMA’s role, structure, and efficiency. Rather than considering its dissolution or significantly reducing its role, we must focus on meaningful reforms that enhance FEMA’s effectiveness while strengthening state and local emergency management capabilities.
The Role of FEMA Over the past decade, FEMA has responded to nearly 1,400 disasters, coordinating federal resources, providing financial assistance, and ensuring disaster recovery efforts are well-funded and efficiently managed. The agency plays a crucial role in:
Coordinating emergency response efforts across multiple federal agencies.
Distributing billions in recovery funds to states, territories, tribal nations, and local governments.
Managing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to provide coverage in high-risk areas.
Conducting damage assessments and ensuring federal aid reaches impacted communities.
Facilitating disaster preparedness training and public education programs.
While FEMA has made significant contributions, inefficiencies, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and an increasing reliance on federal disaster assistance highlight the need for strategic reform rather than elimination.
Challenges and Need for Reform
Disaster Recovery Delays: FEMA’s bureaucratic processes often slow aid delivery to affected communities. A comprehensive review of damage assessment and fund distribution methods is needed to accelerate response times.
Increasing Financial Burden on Federal Government: FEMA’s financial responsibilities have surged as climate change intensifies disasters. Encouraging states to bolster their preparedness and mitigation efforts through federal incentives can reduce long-term dependency on FEMA.
Private Insurance Gaps: FEMA is increasingly filling the void left by private insurers abandoning high-risk areas. Strengthening NFIP and fostering public-private partnerships can alleviate the burden on federal resources.
Outdated Disaster Declaration Criteria: The current disaster declaration process often delays critical assistance. Updating criteria to reflect evolving risk factors and regional vulnerabilities can ensure equitable access to federal aid.
State and Local Capacity Building: While states and localities must take an active role in disaster response, shifting full responsibility to them without necessary resources would be catastrophic. FEMA should expand grant programs that enhance state and local emergency management capabilities.
Proposed Reforms
Streamline Disaster Relief Funding: Implement technology-driven solutions to improve damage assessments, enhance fund tracking, and expedite aid distribution to disaster-stricken communities.
Strengthen Pre-Disaster Mitigation: Increase funding for FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program to help states proactively reduce disaster risks rather than solely relying on post-disaster recovery aid.
Reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP): Encourage the expansion of affordable, private flood insurance markets while maintaining a robust federal backstop for extreme disasters.
Modernize the Disaster Declaration Process: Introduce data-driven thresholds for population density, economic conditions, and climate risks, ensuring timely and equitable federal assistance.
Enhance State and Local Emergency Management Readiness: Establish a tiered funding model where states that invest in preparedness and resilience receive increased federal support, incentivizing proactive disaster management.
Invest in Workforce Development: FEMA’s effectiveness hinges on experienced personnel. Enhancing training programs, expanding career pathways in emergency management, and preventing high turnover rates can ensure a capable workforce.
Eliminating FEMA or significantly reducing its role would leave millions of Americans vulnerable to catastrophic events. Instead, the way forward is the balanced approach that strengthens FEMA while reinforcing state and local emergency management capacity. The goal should not be to dismantle federal disaster assistance but to ensure it operates efficiently, equitably, and sustainably. Through targeted reforms, we can create a more resilient, effective, and adaptable emergency management system that safeguards the nation in the face of growing disaster risks.
The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), of which both Todd and I are elected officials, came out with a six point set of policy recommendations in December of 2024. There were:
1. Nominate and Quickly Confirm the FEMA Administrator We respectfully urge President Trump to announce his nominee for FEMA Administrator before the end of the year, and Congress should confirm his nominee by the end of January. This person must possess impeccable credentials and experience in comprehensive emergency management at the local and state levels. With the ongoing response to Helene and Milton, it is even more critical than usual that the next FEMA Administrator is ready on Day One to take control.
2. Reduce Bureaucratic Complexity - The Trump Administration should seek to eliminate parallel response and recovery structures within the federal government, including the White House, that duplicate effort and confuse response and recovery at all levels of government. The President should formally designate FEMA as THE lead agency for all Hazards/Incident Coordination across the federal government enterprise to include Stafford Act and non-Stafford Act events.
3. Simplify the Process for Receiving Disaster Assistance - Within the first 100 days, the President should direct FEMA to conduct a complete inventory of ALL existing disaster recovery authorities to determine what needs to be reformed, what needs to be replaced, and what needs to be eliminated. Upon completion of the inventory of authorities, FEMA should submit a report to Congress with recommendations to streamline the process for receiving disaster assistance. A cleaner and less complex disaster assistance process will result in considerable cost savings for both the applicant and the federal government, improve communications and coordination, speed up the disbursement of funds, and improve oversight and accountability.
4. Maintain the Disaster Relief Fund - The Office of Management and Budget should work closely with Congress to ensure the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is always adequately funded to support local and state governments with their immediate disaster response and long-term recovery efforts. The recent trend of allowing the DRF to get completely spent down and having to revert to Immediate Needs Funding is entirely avoidable and needlessly protracts the recovery process for every community with an open disaster declaration.
5. Support SLTT Emergency Management Capacity - The Administration and Congress should continue to build emergency management capability and infrastructure at the state, local, territorial, and tribal levels by increasing funding for the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) as well as supporting the professionalization of emergency management through programs such as Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) and Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). The flexibility of EMPG funding allows all levels of government to utilize assistance in areas where they have identified the greatest needs, vulnerabilities, and growth opportunities. EMPG, CEM®, and EMAP are vital in building and sustaining comprehensive emergency management capabilities across the nation.
6. Empower the FEMA Administrator - Our country’s emergency management capabilities and homeland security are threatened by many issues, such as the Coronavirus response and recovery, cyber-attacks, the migrant crisis, the opioid epidemic, and homelessness, while at the same time, the frequency and severity of natural disasters is growing at an alarming rate. With more and more responsibilities being tasked to FEMA, the FEMA Administrator should have direct access to the President with a Cabinet-level seat to ensure coordination across the federal government.