Energy & Environment

FEMA Review Council makes its recommendations to reform agency

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by Mallory Wilson - 05/07/26 2:36 PM ET

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by Mallory Wilson - 05/07/26 2:36 PM ET

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The review council tasked by President Trump with looking into reforms for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved its final report Thursday, recommending sweeping changes to the agency.

The prescribed changes approved by the FEMA Review Council include reviewing agency staffing, shifting more responsibility to state, local and tribal authorities, and privatizing flood insurance.

“We need to refocus FEMA to get it back on what its mission originally was,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.

FEMA is housed under the Department of Homeland Security

The final report comes as FEMA faces funding shortages, staffing shortages and discussions over whether it should just be abolished.

A review council meeting was originally set for December to hear the proposed changes, but it was abruptly canceled. Trump extended the council’s deadline twice to get the final report to his desk, though he has not definitively said he will take its advice.

Trump, who has been outspoken about the cost of the agency, and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had previously floated the idea of eliminating FEMA, which coordinates federal disaster response, but the tune has since changed to pushing for reform.

There are a number of the report’s proposals that would require legislation, regulations or executive orders to get done.

Climate groups have not been happy with the proposed changes.

“Americans are facing increasingly frequent and severe weather that’s devastating homes, roads and crops, and the FEMA Review Council’s recommendations don’t meet this reality. The proposed changes would leave communities without the necessary funding, information and access to insurance to stay prepared and safe when disasters strike,” Will McDow, Environmental Defense Fund associate vice president for coasts and watersheds, said in a statement.

Climate Power senior advisor Mia Logan said in a statement that these recommended changes “will only make things worse.”

“Since Trump took office, he has consistently delayed and denied disaster relief for communities that have been devastated by extreme weather. Now, Trump and his Republican allies are pushing the cost of recovery onto states that can’t afford it, which will leave families stuck footing the bill,” Logan said in a statement.

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