Report Calling For Overhaul of US Disaster Response Agency Only Mentions ‘Climate’ Once

A council appointed by President Trump on the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is calling for higher thresholds for states to receive federal support and for staes and local governments to should responsibility for handling disasters, which are increasing as climate change worsens.

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As the climate crisis fuels a new era of extreme weather, a new report is calling for a total overhaul of the federal agency tasked with America’s disaster response.

The report, compiled by a Review Council appointed by President Donald Trump and published last week, proposes sweeping changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that experts warn could erode the country’s capacity to handle disasters, which are increasing as climate change worsens.

2025 was the third-highest year for billion-dollar disasters in the US, behind 2023 and 2024. A total of 23 weather and climate disasters racked up damages of at least $1 billion, claimed an estimated 276 lives and cost the country some $115 billion. And yet the 74-page report, which calls for major changes to the nation’s disaster programs, only includes one mention of the word “climate” and fails to address how these changes would meet the increasing need for rapid and efficient emergency disaster response systems.

FEMA coordinates the federal response to disasters. Its 2024 $28-billion budget included some $18 billion in disaster relief to support recovery efforts across the country, $4 billion for a program providing affordable flood insurance to property owners, and more than $3.8 billion in grants and direct payments to help individuals and communities recover from federally declared disasters. The agency also provides training and education to help communities prepare for disasters and funds mitigation and adaptation projects for natural disaster preparedness and resilience.

The agency employed more than 20,000 people before the Trump administration ordered mass layoffs last years. Those firings, combined with retirements and resignations, resulted in a loss of roughly a third of its full-time staff.

Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly accused the agency of being inefficient and expensive and has threatened to shut it down. Much of the council’s report echoes Trump’s criticism of the agency and includes measures it says will make FEMA “more efficient and responsive,” although it does not go as far as recommending FEMA’s abolishment.

These proposals would fundamentally change how America handles catastrophe by effectively offload the burden of disaster management onto the states. States would face a higher threshold to unlock federal aid, though they would receive direct payments within 30 days rather than waiting for reimbursements. The plan also slashes federal oversight by reducing environmental audits and historical reviews, and pushes flood insurance away from the heavily indebted National Flood Insurance Program and toward the private market, while continuing to align premium costs more closely with risk.

While acknowledging issues at FEMA, which has indeed been stretched to its limits for years, experts warn that state and local governments are ill-equipped to fill the void left by the agency. In many rural areas, FEMA funding also covers emergency managers’ salaries besides providing crucial training on disaster management.

“[Small governments] rely a lot on Fema, and on federal expertise to help them,” Andrew Rumbach, a Senior Fellow at the Washington, D.C.–based Urban Institute, told the Guardian. “I think that this is going to be really a challenging proposition for them.”

The council also suggested FEMA should only help house those whose homes are deemed uninhabitable, instead of also those whose homes are damaged. But that would mean no more federal support to cover medical costs or transportation barriers for many disaster survivors, according to Madison Sloan, Director of a Disaster Recovery and Fair Housing Project at Texas Appleseed, a non-profit focused on social, economic and racial justice.

“There’s no help for you if your home wasn’t destroyed,” Sloan told The New York Times. She also echoed Rumbach’s fears that state and local governments may not be able to take on more responsibility for disaster response.