FEMA lays groundwork to shift disaster burden to states

The Trump administration plans to reduce state and local dependency on federal disaster aid and could move Federal Emergency Management Agency workers out of Washington, D.C., according to an internal FEMA memo obtained by POLITICO.

FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton wrote in an Oct. 15 memo — confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of it — that the agency will “strengthen state and local emergency management capacity” in an effort to lower reliance on the federal government.

“Reducing federal dependency requires partners to build, maintain, and exercise the capabilities needed to manage incidents effectively,” the seven-page memo to agency employees says.

In a separate section, the memo says, “FEMA must reduce unnecessary centralization in Washington, D.C.,” and that “regional and field teams are often closest to disaster survivors, state and local officials, emergency managers, and community partners.”

The memo is the clearest indication that the administration will follow through on President Donald Trump’s long-stated desire to shift disaster management to states and reduce the federal role in preparation and recovery.

It’s also the first indication of Hamilton’s priorities since he became the first permanent FEMA administrator in Trump’s second term in August. A series of acting leaders had run FEMA since January 2025, and their temporary status precluded the agency from making structural changes.

Although Trump has called for weakening FEMA since his first week in office, no new policies emerged, creating uncertainty about the future of federal disaster aid.

Trump has indirectly discouraged reliance on federal disaster aid by taking far longer than his predecessors — including Trump in his first term — to act on state requests for help after major storms, floods, wildfires and other disasters.

Hamilton’s memo echoes recommendations of a Trump-appointed FEMA review panel to build state and local capacity and make it harder for states to qualify for federal disaster aid.

The memo also has general language about “eliminating unnecessary steps, reducing administrative burden” and taking other action to expedite and simplify FEMA’s notoriously slow and laborious process of approving aid.

Shana Udvardy of the Union of Concerned Scientists said she worries that the memo “seems to promote efficiency and accountability over the welfare of communities.”

“When you have a lot of focus on accountability and efficiency, you’re going to have staff losing focus on the bigger picture of resiliency,” said Udvardy, UCS’ senior climate policy resilience analyst. “It’s really hard to know what this is going to look like in practice.”

FEMA did not respond to a request for comment on the memo.

The agency has limited ability to revise its own policies, which are mostly set by federal law. Congress hasn’t changed FEMA operations significantly since 2018, and congressional leaders have shown little interest in bipartisan legislation to overhaul the agency.

Hamilton says in his memo that the objectives he outlined “will guide FEMA’s planning, budgeting, program management, operations, and partner engagement. Each office, region, and program must assess whether its current activities align with these priorities and identify opportunities to improve execution.”

This article originally appeared on Politico at https://ift.tt/z2a8MWv

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