Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
This bill abolishes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) two years after enactment, transfers FEMA functions and available personnel/assets to the President, and directs unobligated FEMA funds to the Treasury.
It creates a Treasury-run disaster relief block grant program that allocates funds to States by a rule-based formula, requires annual State emergency plans and reports, caps State administrative use at 5 percent, reserves 10 percent for program administration and 10 percent for audits, forbids duplicate federal benefits, and sunsets the grant program four years after the required allocation rule is issued.
Sweeping, high-controversy reorganization with uncertain fiscal mechanics and legal/implementation risks yields low likelihood.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill proposes significant substantive change—abolishing the Federal Emergency Management Agency and creating a Treasury-administered disaster relief block grant program—and includes several operational provisions (timelines, plan and reporting requirements, audit and administrative caps). However, it leaves key elements under-specified, especially funding authorization, detailed allocation formula parameters, statutory integration with existing disaster law, and a comprehensive transition plan for ongoing federal disaster authorities and operations.
Whether abolishing FEMA weakens national disaster response capability
Whether abolishing FEMA weakens national disaster response capability
Likely strongly critical.
They would see abolishing FEMA as a rollback of federal disaster capacity and protection for vulnerable communities, and worry about centralizing authority in the White House.
They would view state block grants and a temporary program as insufficient for large-scale disasters and long-term mitigation.
Mixed view.
They appreciate devolving some responsibilities to States and encouraging preparedness, but worry about lost national coordination, unclear funding adequacy, and the political centralization of authority in the Executive Office.
They would seek safeguards, clearer formulas, and a longer-term structure.
Generally favorable.
They would welcome dismantling a large federal agency in favor of state-directed block grants and reduced bureaucratic control.
They may still want lower federal administrative take and a permanent devolution of responsibilities rather than a temporary program.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Sweeping, high-controversy reorganization with uncertain fiscal mechanics and legal/implementation risks yields low likelihood.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Whether abolishing FEMA weakens national disaster response capability
Sweeping, high-controversy reorganization with uncertain fiscal mechanics and legal/implementation risks yields low likelihood.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill proposes significant substantive change—abolishing the Federal Emergency Management Agency and creating a Treasury-administered disaster relief block grant program—an…
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