The Federal Emergency Management Agency aims to be a beacon of hope for those facing disaster. But the agency has faced 18 months of turmoil.
Worried about FEMA? Call your congressman.
FEMA was heavily criticized for its slow response to last summer’s flooding in Texas. What can we expect this summer?
For millions of Americans who have experienced devastating floods, wildfires, and other disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency often represents a hope for relief.
Federal disaster relief agencies have been in disarray for 18 months as the U.S. enters hurricane season and monitors the strengthening of El Niño, which could intensify extreme weather into the fall and winter.
Even before his second term in office, President Donald Trump had raised the possibility of abolishing the agency and transferring its operations to state and local governments. Days after taking office, he ordered a review of FEMA. During the DOGE era, thousands of employees left the company through layoffs, buyouts, and other actions. There are at least four acting FEMA administrators in the new administration, and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, has a second-in-command.
Questions then arose about the agency’s response to the deadly July 2025 flooding in Kerr County, Texas. The advocacy group Sabotaging Our Safety has increasingly criticized FEMA’s ability to respond to disasters, given the agency’s beleaguered staffing shortages and other problems. Lawmakers also question the country’s preparedness to respond to catastrophic disasters.
Congress is currently taking up a bipartisan bill introduced in the summer of 2025 that aims to “fix” FEMA.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on July 15 to consider FEMA reforms, including legislation that would separate FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security and make it a Cabinet-level agency again reporting directly to the president.
Democrats in the House and Senate also want answers about whether the department’s resources were illegally diverted to immigration enforcement and whether partisan politics plays a large role in the agency’s disaster decisions.
Observers say they expect new answers to continuing questions about FEMA’s mission in the coming months, given the attention from Congress and the pending approval of Cameron Hamilton to return to his short-term role as FEMA administrator in 2025.
FEMA continues to move forward and work with agency partners to prepare for hurricanes and respond to disasters as they always have, Robert Ash, acting FEMA Region 4 administrator, told USA TODAY in May. Ashe said the agency’s leadership is “very focused” on ensuring FEMA is prepared. “Our preparation is the same every year.”
The President’s FEMA Review Council completed its work in May and released a long list of proposed reforms. At the time, Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullin said the administration was “moving forward to transform FEMA into a streamlined, mission-focused, results-producing agency.” FEMA did not respond to USA TODAY’s recent requests for additional information.
Josh Morton, president of the American International Association of Emergency Managers, said critics and supporters agree that change is needed.
“I don’t think there’s an emergency manager in the United States, including FEMA officials, who doesn’t agree with the statement that change is needed,” said Morton, the emergency management director for Saluda County, South Carolina. FEMA’s processes are “overly complex, the programs are very complex, and sometimes it’s very difficult to navigate the federal system.”
Among the issues being debated are how authorities should respond to survivors waiting for help after the next disaster, how responsibility will be divided between state, local and federal governments, and who will pay for it.
“There are a lot of very large cracks.”
In Swannanoa, North Carolina, Beth Trigg saw the remnants of Hurricane Helen damage or destroy hundreds of homes in her area in 2024. Her home was one of the few in the neighborhood to survive. Neighbors around her are in various stages of the FEMA relief process.
Immediately after Helen struck, Trigg began helping her neighbors and the broader community navigate the complexities of disaster relief at the federal, state, and local levels.
For storm survivors, navigating the process of securing disaster relief is like a full-time job, Trigg said. People with college educations who are computer savvy and have flexible jobs that allow them to navigate online processes have an advantage, she said.
“There are thousands of people in our community who don’t have that, and they need support,” she said. “Our nonprofits have caught people falling through the cracks, and there are a lot of very large cracks.”
“We don’t think we need to destroy or eliminate FEMA,” said Trigg, who co-founded the nonprofit Swannanoa Community Together with her sister after Helen. But it needs to be redesigned to better meet the needs of the community, she said.
FEMA’s mission, bureaucracy, and effectiveness have long been under scrutiny, especially after major disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Andrew. This issue has been addressed in numerous Government Accountability Office reports, and there is ongoing debate about how to respond responsibly while protecting against fraud.
Recent criticism has also come from Democrats in the House and Senate. On July 10, 2026, House subcommittee Democratic staff released a report alleging that the Department of Homeland Security improperly diverted FEMA resources to support immigration enforcement without legal authority. Among the list of allegations, the report said the Department of Homeland Security directed FEMA teams to provide special assistance to counties deemed “priorities for the president” because of their voting records.
A group of Democratic senators also called on the Trump administration to provide a breakdown of disaster declarations to explain whether it has become more difficult for “blue states” to obtain disaster funding under the current administration.
Restructuring FEMA – Again
Craig Fugate, who served as FEMA administrator in the Obama administration and as Florida’s emergency management director under two Republican governors, is scheduled to speak at a July 15 hearing on the bipartisan Improving Emergency Management for Americans Act.
This isn’t the first time the agency has had to rebuild, Fugate told USA TODAY.
“My concern is not that FEMA can’t rebuild,” Fugate said. “History says it’s possible. What I’m concerned about is the clock.”
In Fugate’s view, the agency’s greatest vulnerability will occur if it is asked to manage multiple catastrophic events simultaneously while supporting ongoing disaster and recovery.
Fugate said the agency’s cupboards are not empty. “We still have talented people and experienced leadership at FEMA,” he said, including Bob Fenton, who currently serves as the agency’s acting administrator and will return to his position as Region 9 administrator. Fenton is one of the “most experienced” disaster managers in the world, Fugate said.
John Scardena, an emergency management consultant and host of the podcast “Disaster Tough,” also praised the experienced staff remaining at FEMA after speaking with friends inside and outside the agency.
“I think FEMA is in a much better position than some people believe,” Scardena said.
New administrator waiting
After briefly serving as acting administrator in 2025, Hamilton was fired by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in May 2025 after telling Congress that abolishing FEMA was not in the “best interest of the American people.”
President Donald Trump, a former Navy SEAL, veteran and emergency response official, nominated Hamilton to the post again in May.
Recalling Hamilton shows “commitment” to preserving FEMA, Scardena said.
On the Sept. 3, 2025 episode of Scardena’s podcast, Hamilton said it makes sense to phase out FEMA from certain elements of response and recovery. Addressing the agency’s growing mission and expanding its reach will require engagement and partnership, Hamilton said.
Morton said Hamilton began the effort immediately after his 2025 appointment. He began reaching out to state and local emergency managers and others for more information. That continued even after he was fired, Morton said.
Over the past year, Hamilton has been “getting out there, meeting everyone, talking to people, learning as much as I can about emergency management at the state, local and federal level,” Morton said. “He’s going to do a great job and be able to move FEMA forward in a way we haven’t seen in a long time.”
During his confirmation hearing in May, Hamilton told a Senate committee that he would “ensure that FEMA is objective, fair and reasonable, follows the law and is consistent” in evaluating disaster declaration requests. He also vowed to “restore the American people’s confidence in our government and its vital mission.”
“Let’s work together”
Morton said he is much more optimistic about the agency’s leadership and its future than he was this time last year, especially now that the rhetoric of “abolish FEMA” is gone.
Morton said such cooperation is necessary for successful disaster relief efforts and necessary to move things forward. “Let’s solve problems and work together to solve them.”
Much of FEMA’s mission is written into law, and changing it would require Congressional action, which would take time, he said, joking that people wouldn’t use the term “wasteful act of Congress.”
“We have the FEMA review committee report, but now we need to see what Congress is going to do with it,” he said. “Living in crisis management is fun.”
Dinah Boyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, writes about violent weather, climate change and other news. Contact dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or dinahvp.77 on X or Signal.
