Key players leaving as proposals emerge
FEMA has been at the forefront of many disaster management discussions over the last several months, with folks on both sides of the aisle trying to find a new balance for emergency management amid the current administration’s attempts at slashing “red tape” across the federal level. The new FEMA Review Council, which had its first meeting on May 20, includes some of the best disaster recovery specialists in the industry, including Florida’s own emergency management chief, Kevin Guthrie. It was clear during the meeting that FEMA would not exist as it has been, with discussion on renaming and reimagining the agency to take a more supportive, financial role when disasters strike, like managing a “state block grant model,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the panel’s co-leader. Streamlining comes with many cuts, including the recent recission of FEMA’s Public Assistance Mitigation Cost Share Incentives Policy, which was only put into effect last September.
Meanwhile, personnel are still shifting. Just last week, the head of FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center, Jeremy Greenberg, submitted his letter of resignation and Tony Robinson, FEMA administrator for Region 6, also announced his departure following the resignation of his deputy, Traci Brasher, just days prior. This exodus of leadership is the latest in a series of vacancies, following interim Director Cameron Hamilton’s exit from the agency earlier this year.
Also looking at revamping FEMA is the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that came forward last month with a major FEMA reform proposal to help streamline the disaster recovery and rebuilding process for Americans. Perhaps most importantly, it emphasizes a shift away from project reimbursement and towards grant funding to pay for projects up front, and directing FEMA to examine their grant application to eliminate duplication to move more people through the pipeline. The legislation also prioritizes leveraging private sector innovation and tech, particularly in damage assessment and document management, which would be incredibly useful in creating a universal disaster aid portal and simplifying denial and appeal processes.
With hurricane season now in full swing, talk of shrinking the agency, or transforming it into a disaster recovery piggy bank for the states, will have to wait until storm season is over. Last week, President Trump indicated that a large part of FEMA could be phased out “after the hurricane season,” which is forecast to have above average activity with a predicted 17 named storms. The Review Council now has another few months to come up with a direct plan of action on how exactly they’d like to transform FEMA, with a recommendation due to the President by November 16, at the tail end of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.
LMA Newsletter of 6-16-25
