Updated Feb 5, 2025
Summary
- 01/24/25: Establishes the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council to determine whether or not FEMA should exist
01/24/2025 Executive Order: “Council to Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency”
- States “The Federal responses to Hurricane Helene and other recent disasters demonstrate the need to drastically improve the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (“FEMA’s) efficacy, priorities, and competence, including evaluating whether FEMA’s bureaucracy in disaster response ultimately harms the agency’s ability to successfully respond. “
- Establishes Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council
- Council will exist for 1 year, unless extended by Trump
- Council shall be made up of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of Defense, and “relevant agency heads and distinguished individuals and representatives from sectors outside of the Federal Government appointed by the President”
- Will advise on “the existing ability of FEMA to capably and impartially address disasters occurring within the United States and shall advise the President on all recommended changes related to FEMA to best serve the national interest”
- Report will include:
- Assessment of the adequacy of FEMA’s response to disasters during the Biden admin, including staffing
- Comparison of the FEMA responses with State, local, and private sector responses during Biden admin, including “timeliness of response, supplies provided, efficacy, and services (including communications and electricity) provided”
- Commentary and debate about the role and operation of FEMA
- How disaster aid and relief was provided before FEMA (so prior to 1979, though the federal gov was involved in disaster relief and aid since the early 1800s)
- The “traditional role of the States and their coordination with the Federal Government in securing the life, liberty, and property of their citizens in preparation for, during, and after disasters”
- Evaluation of “whether FEMA can serve its functions as a support agency, providing supplemental Federal assistance, to the States rather than supplanting State control of disaster relief”
- Evaluation of how FEMA could be reformed, and whether or not it should still exist