Policy Backgrounders

Changing US Disaster Relief Funding?

January 30, 2025

On January 24, the President established a 20-member Council to assess the operations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and produce a report with recommendations to improve or reform the agency. The full-scale review of FEMA comes after the President sharply criticized FEMA and may spur efforts at significant reform to US disaster relief funding and policies.

• FEMA, part of the Department of Homeland Security, coordinates the Federal response to natural disasters. FEMA also provides flood insurance to property owners and businesses and operates programs to promote emergency preparedness and disaster risk mitigation.
• FEMA’s fund for responding to major disasters has routinely required supplemental appropriations and has faced funding shortfalls in recent years as natural disasters become more frequent and costlier.
• The President was sharply critical of FEMA, raising the possibility of significant reform or even abolishing the agency, which would require an Act of Congress.
• The Council’s analysis of FEMA’s operations comes as Congress works to finalize the Federal budget, where supplemental funding for recovery after the Los Angeles wildfires this month will be a key consideration in those negotiations.