The Trump administration plans to scrap the disaster relief Federal Emergency Management AgencyHomeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly said during a Cabinet meeting on Monday.
Noem said that her department would move to “eliminate” FEMA, she said, according to Semafor and reports by other media.
The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s parent agency, for comment.
Some reacted to the claims with alarm.
“The Trump Administration’s grand plan for victims of natural disasters is to abandon them — and it’s a complete non-starter,” Senator Pete Welch of Vermont, a Democrat, wrote in a statement Monday. “Eliminating FEMA’s ability to respond after a disaster hits would be catastrophic not only for flood victims in Vermont, but for hurricane victims in the Carolinas, tornado victims in Kansas, and wildfire victims in California.”
The threat was reported even as massive wildfires ravage parts of North and South Carolina.
It’s unclear how the administration would eliminate the agency, given that it is authorized by statute, but it follows months of criticisms from the White House about the emergency body.
White House would need congressional buy-in to eliminate FEMA (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D) and Byron Donalds (R), meanwhile, have introduced bipartisan legislation to turn FEMA into an independent, Cabinet-level agency.
Some Republicans say they oppose efforts to eliminate the emergency agency.
“FEMA can’t go away,” Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said in February. “I think the first job of the federal government is to protect people and property.”
The administration has criticized FEMA from a number of angles, ranging from arguments that it’s inefficient, to inaccurate claims the agency diverted emergency funding to house migrants.
“I love Oklahoma, but you know what? If they get hit with a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it,” Trump said in January. “And then the federal government can help them out with the money. FEMA is getting in the way of everything.”
On the campaign trailTrump also falsely claimed then Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden didn’t visit the disaster zones in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, and that the federal government didn’t help people in Republican-leaning areas.
Since taking office, the president has signed executive orders calling for a review of FEMA operations and the creation of a “National Resilience Strategy,” while arguing: “Local leaders and citizens know their needs best — not bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.,” indicating that states would foot the bill for major disasters, which batter different states at very different levels.
The White House has also reportedly ordered FEMA to review “all disaster relief programs that may indirectly or incidentally aid illegal aliens,” according to an internal memo obtained by Politico.
Last week, FEMA employees were warned that Secretary Noem would need to personally approve scores of positions once their terms expire, setting up potential staffing cuts as part of the administration’s wide-ranging campaign to slash federal spending.
Experts have warned that eliminating FEMA would likely weaken emergency response in poorer, disaster-prone Republican states.
“This would have tremendous implications for many red states; it’s hard to find the words for how bad it would be,” Samantha Montano, a disaster response expert at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Guardian earlier this year.
“Florida and Texas have a high risk, but poorer red states like Mississippi and Alabama would be even worse off because they have less money to pull from to make up for a loss in federal funding,” the expert added.
