The Federal Emergency Management Agency building in Washington, D.C., November 25, 2024. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – The 12-member board charged with overhauling the Federal Emergency Management Agency abruptly canceled a Thursday meeting where members were scheduled to debate and vote on their recommendations.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, one of the co-chairs, left a U.S. House of Representatives committee hearing early to attend the meeting, which was scheduled to begin in the early afternoon.
Shortly thereafter, Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz posted on social media: “Noem said she had to chair the FEMA review board meeting. BUT I was told that meeting was canceled.”
A White House official, speaking on background, said the meeting “was canceled this morning while Noem was testifying because White House officials were not fully briefed on the latest version of the report, even though some DHS officials believed they were. The Secretary likely did not know the cancellation occurred because she was already at her hearing.”
The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA did not respond to requests for comment on why the event was canceled, whether it would be postponed or when the public might see the recommendations.
The meeting was to include “a presentation of the draft final report from the Final Report Subcommittee; a presentation of a summary of public comments submitted to the Council by the Designated Federal Official; deliberations of the Council; and a public vote on the draft final report,” according to the Council. announcement placed in the Federal Register.
States Newsroom contacted several members of the FEMA Review Board after learning that the meeting was no longer taking place, but they did not respond to requests for comment or declined.
Trump and FEMA reorganization
Rebuilding FEMA and shifting disaster response and recovery costs back to the states is one of many priorities President Donald Trump has pursued since taking office.
Trump signed executive order in January establishing a FEMA Review Board and requiring its members to submit its recommendations to him within 180 days of its first public meeting.
This term came and went in November with no word from the Council on what recommendations it will include in its report or when it will be published.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has been vocal about his frustration with FEMA, although he has not yet taken action to restructure or eliminate the agency.
“We want to wean ourselves off FEMA and bring it down to the state level,” Trump said in June. “We’re taking it back to the states so the governors can deal with it. That’s why they’re governors. Now, if they can’t deal with it, they shouldn’t be governors.”
I’m waiting for recommendations
Local and state officials across the country are watching for official recommendations from the FEMA Review Board, especially those that would drastically change their budgets and staffing.
Minnesota Auditor Julie Blaha said as much in August during a call with reporters some communities will need years or even decades the creation of a reserve at the level necessary to cover only one major natural disaster.
“In a small town, it will be quite difficult to save millions of dollars, and before we can accumulate a multi-million dollar reserve, we will probably face another disaster,” Blaha said. “The only way to respond to this is to go into debt, which again increases costs.”
Members of Congress, however, did not wait for the review board’s recommendations.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a wide-ranging bipartisan bill earlier this year to amend FEMA approved it in September.
GOP leaders in the House of Representatives have not yet brought it to a vote.
