Trump and Republicans Allow FEMA Disaster Relief Fund to Hit Critical Low

Washington, DC – As wildfires spread across the South and severe storms cause massive damage across the country, FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund has entered a financial danger zone because of the ongoing Republican shutdown. The drop in FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund triggered Imminent Needs Funding — forcing the agency to delay ongoing recovery efforts to focus on only the most urgent needs. Over the past 75 days of the partial government shutdown, congressional Republicans have blocked FEMA funding multiple times — all in the name of supporting Trump’s dangerous immigration agenda. Before the shutdown even began, Trump gutted FEMA and dismantled disaster mitigation and response—threatening critical aid and leaving communities more vulnerable to extreme weather events. 

Climate Power Senior Advisor Mia Logan issued the following statement: “Republican lawmakers have had multiple opportunities to fund FEMA, but instead, they’ve chosen to play political games with people’s lives. Trump spent his first year in office gutting our disaster response. Now, even more disaster relief will be denied or delayed, forcing communities devastated by extreme weather to bear the costs of recovery on their own. Trump and congressional Republicans are abandoning people to head into wildfire and hurricane season with no safety net.”

Trump has gutted FEMA and weakened our disaster preparedness and response: 

• Trump continues to undermine FEMA’s role in helping communities prepare for disasters. Trump’s FY27 budget proposal included cutting $1.3 billion in FEMA funds for state and local emergency preparedness. 
• Trump has consistently politicized disaster aid. As of March 2026, it was three times harder for Democratic-led states to get Trump’s approval for federal disaster aid. Trump approved just 23% of disaster aid requests from Democratic-led states, compared to 89% for Republican-led states. 
• Trump has cut key FEMA staff, delaying the distribution of critical disaster funding. In 2025, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security drafted plans to cut FEMA’s workforce by more than 50%, resulting in the loss of more than 11,500 jobs.
• In the first year of his second term, Trump denied and delayed disaster aid for 18 states: Oregon, Maryland, Kansas, Missouri, West Virginia, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Washington, Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Illinois, Colorado, Vermont, Alaska, and Wisconsin.
• Under Trump, pending FEMA disaster applications are sitting longer on average than at any other point in the previous 37 years.
• Before it was ruled illegal in federal court, Trump canceled FEMA’s $1 billion Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and called for the immediate return of awarded funds, threatening hundreds of resiliency projects in communities nationwide.
• Trump stopped approving new allocations from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation and Grant Program, becoming the first president in at least three decades to deny governors’ requests for funding that’s meant to protect people and property.
• Trump’s previous DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, consistently mismanaged FEMA and fumbled the agency’s response to major disasters. As of January 2026, Noem’s requirement for her personal approval on all FEMA expenses exceeding $100,000 was creating a $17 billion bottleneck, causing months-long delays in delivering federal disaster funds to states. 
• The Trump administration’s mismanagement caused aid delays in communities across the country – from Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, Alabama, Arkansas, to even North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene recovery continues. 
• During a deadly tornado outbreak last month, the Trump administration left search-and-rescue teams without a real-time tornado-tracking tool after failing to renew a $200,000 contract, hindering life-saving search-and-rescue efforts.