FEMA faces shakeup under Trump while it wrestles with disasters on both coasts

[January 24, 2025]  By CHRIS MEGERIAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is preparing to reshape the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been on the frontlines of responding to recent wildfires in California and last year's hurricane in North Carolina.

He spoke at length about the issue with congressional Republican leaders on Tuesday, discussing whether the agency known as FEMA should continue providing assistance to states in the same way, according to a person familiar with the conversation and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Conservatives have previously suggested reducing the amount that states are reimbursed for preventing and responding to disasters like floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and more.

Trump was critical of the agency this week in an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, saying “FEMA has not done their job for the last four years" and “FEMA is getting in the way of everything.”

The Republican president plans to visit North Carolina, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene in September, and California, which is reeling from some of the most destructive fires in its history, on Friday for his first trip since taking office on Monday.

North Carolina has been a focal point for Republican criticism of FEMA, some of it rooted in misinformation. For example, conservatives claimed on social media that hurricane victims were only receiving $750 in relief even if they suffered devastating losses, but the payments were only meant to be a stopgap for emergency expenses until additional assistance could be distributed.

Rising hostility led to concerns that FEMA workers could be targeted by militia members.

Trump also suggested that he would withhold assistance from California during the interview with Hannity.

"I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down into their system," he said.

The president has falsely claimed that the California water policies, which involve fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state, allowed fire hydrants to run dry in Los Angeles during the fires.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who comes from disaster prone Louisiana, has suggested conditioning federal aid to California.

Michael Coen, who recently served as FEMA's chief of staff under the Biden administration, said it was “dangerous” to put conditions on disaster relief.

“You’re going to pick winners and losers on which communities are going to be supported by the federal government," he said. "I think the American people expect the federal government will be there for them on their worst day, no matter where they live.”

Firefighters spray water as they monitor flames caused by the Hughes Fire along a roadside in Castaic, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Congress just last year replenished the federal disaster aid fund by $100 billion as part of a massive year-end appropriations bill signed into law by President Joe Biden in the aftermath of back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton.

But damages from the California fires are expected to tally as among the most expensive natural disaster in the nation’s history.

Trump made Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL and unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate from Virginia, the agency's interim administrator. Hamilton previously worked on emergency management issues for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, but he has limited experience handling natural disasters.

He's been critical of FEMA on social media and outspoken about increasing security along the southern border, where the agency's resources could be redirected.

Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump's second term prepared by the president's allies, included dramatic proposals for FEMA.

The plan called for dismantling DHS and relocating FEMA to the Department of Interior or the Department of Transportation.

In addition, it suggested changing the formula that the agency uses to determine when federal disaster assistance is warranted, shifting the costs of preventing and responding to disasters to states.

The federal reimbursement rate would be set at 25% of costs for smaller disasters and capped at 75% for larger ones.

Presidents can currently authorize the reimbursement of some expenses at 100%, as Biden did for some costs from Hurricane Helene and the California fires.

About 6 in 10 voters in November’s election approved of how FEMA was handling its job, according to AP VoteCast. Roughly 4 in 10 disapproved, but the number was higher among Trump's voters. Two thirds of them said they disapproved of how FEMA was handling its job.

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 Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller and Linley Sanders contributed reporting.

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