The Federal Emergency Management Agency building in Washington, DC, on November 25, 2024. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — The 12-member council tasked with overhauling the Federal Emergency Management Agency abruptly canceled Thursday’s meeting where members were scheduled to debate and vote on their recommendations.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, one of the co-chairs, left a U.S. House committee hearing early to attend the session that was scheduled to begin in the early afternoon.
Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz posted on social media shortly afterward: “Noem said she had to chair the FEMA Review Board meeting. BUT I was told the meeting was canceled.”
A White House official said on background that the meeting “was canceled this morning, while Noem was testifying, because White House officials had not been fully briefed on the latest draft of the report, despite some DHS officials suspecting this. It is likely that the secretary did not know the cancellation had occurred since she was already in the hearing.”
The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA did not respond to requests for comment on why the event was canceled, whether it will be postponed or when the public might see the recommendations.
The meeting was expected to include “a presentation of the draft final report of the final report subcommittee, a presentation of a summary of the public comments provided to the Council by the designated federal official, deliberations by the Council, and a public vote on the draft final report,” it said notice entered in the Federal Register.
After it became apparent that the meeting would no longer be held, the States newsroom contacted several members of the FEMA Review Board but did not respond to or declined requests for comment.
Trump and FEMA overhaul
Overhauling FEMA and shifting natural disaster response and recovery costs back to states has been one of the many priorities President Donald Trump has pursued since taking office.
Trump signed an implementing regulation In January, he created the FEMA Review Council and directed its members to report their recommendations to him within 180 days of its first public meeting.
This deadline came and went in November There was no information from the council about what recommendations it would include in its report or when it would be released publicly.
Trump has been vocal about his frustration with FEMA throughout his presidency, although he has yet to take action to restructure or dismantle the agency.
“We want to get away from FEMA and move it to the state level,” Trump said in June. “We’re moving this back to the states so the governors can deal with it. That’s why they’re governors. If they can’t handle it, they shouldn’t be governors.”
Waiting for recommendations
Local and state officials across the country have been waiting for official recommendations from the FEMA Review Council, particularly those that would drastically change their budgets and staffing levels.
That’s what Minnesota Comptroller Julie Blaha said during a call with reporters in August Some communities will take years or even decades to build the type of reserve needed to cover a single major natural disaster.
“In a small town, it’s going to be pretty hard to set aside millions of dollars, and if you have a multimillion-dollar reserve, disaster is likely to happen again,” Blaha said. “The only way to respond is to go into debt and increase costs again.”
However, members of Congress did not wait for the Review Council’s recommendations.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a largely bipartisan bill to overhaul FEMA earlier this year approved it in September.
House Republican leaders have yet to vote on it.
