REMINDER: Trump Is Still a Threat to Disaster Relief

After the longest funding lapse in history, congressional Republicans agreed to fund FEMA, but Trump’s cuts have already weakened our disaster response and put communities at risk 

Next week, Trump’s FEMA Review Council will release its recommendations to overhaul FEMA

Washington, DC – Today, after keeping the Department of Homeland Security shut down for 76 days — the longest funding lapse in history — and allowing FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to hit critical lows, congressional Republicans agreed to end the funding freeze. Make no mistake: even with DHS fully funded, Trump is still a threat to disaster relief. Trump’s FEMA Review Council is meeting next week to release its recommendations to overhaul FEMA. Since his first week in office, Trump has 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: “Trump and congressional Republicans waited 76 days to fully fund FEMA, allowing the Disaster Relief Fund to hit critical lows and delaying aid for devastated communities. Trump’s FEMA Review Council meets next week, and our disaster response infrastructure is again hanging in the balance. As we head into summer and face the looming threat of increasingly dangerous heat waves, wildfires, and hurricanes, Trump’s decision to gut our disaster response will put lives at risk and force communities to bear the costs of extreme weather.” 

Trump’s cuts to FEMA are an ongoing threat to our disaster preparedness and response: 

• Trump continues to undermine FEMA’s role in helping communities prepare for disasters. Trump’s FY’27 budget proposal included cutting $1.3 billion in FEMA funds for state and local emergency preparedness. 
• Trump and congressional Republicans blocked FEMA funding for 76 days and allowed FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to hit critical lows.
• 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.