A sign is seen in front of the FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at Weaverville City Hall on March 29, 2025 in Weaverville, North Carolina. (Photo: Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – The review board President Donald Trump tasked with reviewing the Federal Emergency Management Agency was expected to release its recommendations by Monday, but missed the deadline.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security declined to provide a release date for the report, but wrote in a statement that it “will inform this administration’s ongoing efforts to fundamentally restructure FEMA, transforming it from its current form into a streamlined, mission-focused disaster response force.”
A congressional staffer, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the report could be released as early as mid-December. A spokesman for Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a member of the board, said the review board will vote to finalize the report at an upcoming public meeting.
Trump appointed a 12-person council executive order signed the agreement in January and tasked the group with publishing a report within 180 days of its first meeting on May 20.
This should mean publication last weekend, although it is possible that the staff writing the report was furloughed or assigned other tasks at that time. 43-day government shutdown.
Hegseth and Noem are co-chairs
The council, co-chaired by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, held three public meetings earlier this year in which members discussed possible ways to restructure FEMA but did not reveal what recommendations they would actually include in the report.
Trump said in June that “the FEMA thing wasn’t a very successful experiment” and that he would like to see states take more responsibility for disaster response and recovery.
“When you get a tornado or a hurricane or you have any problem in the state, that’s what you have governors for,” Trump said. “They should solve these problems. And it’s much more local. And they will develop a system. I think it will be a great system.”
The report of the FEMA Review Board is to include
- “assessment of the adequacy of FEMA’s response to disasters over the past 4 years”,
- “comparing FEMA’s response to state, local and private sector responses” and
- “an analysis of the main arguments in the public debate for and against FEMA reform, including an assessment of the merits and legality of individual reform proposals,” among several other elements.
FEMA’s congressional action continues
There will likely be any major changes at FEMA it has to go through Congress before they could enter into force. But the bipartisan group of lawmakers didn’t wait for the review board’s suggestions to act.
In September, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 57-3 send the bill to the floor it would make significant changes to FEMA, including making it a cabinet-level agency.
House Republican leaders have not yet scheduled a vote on the bill. If passed, it would require Senate approval and Trump’s signature to become law.
