With Hurricane Season Weeks Away, Abbott Endorsed Gutting Texas’s Federal Disaster Safety Net

AUSTIN, TX  – Just weeks before hurricane season, Trump’s FEMA Review Council – on which Governor Greg Abbott serves – released its recommendations to overhaul the agency, further gutting federal disaster response and shifting the costs of recovery onto states and local communities. Texas faces some of the nation’s most destructive natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and wildfires, and this safety net overhaul poses a direct threat to the safety and financial security of millions of families.

Since taking office, Trump has systematically gutted disaster preparedness and emergency response. Now, with Governor Greg Abbott’s support, these FEMA recommendations threaten to strip critical federal aid from the Texas communities that depend on it most. From the Gulf Coast to flood-ravaged Central Texas, when the next hurricane, flood, or wildfire hits, Texans will be left paying more out of pocket and picking up the pieces with little federal support.

Climate Power Senior Advisor Mia Logan issued the following statement: “Trump has already gutted our disaster response capabilities, and these recommendations will only make things worse. Governor Abbott chose to serve on this council while it recommended pushing the financial burden of disaster recovery onto Texas families who can’t afford it. Texas has been devastated by hurricanes, floods, and extreme weather — and now Trump and Abbott are making it harder and more expensive to rebuild.”

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR TEXAS

Texas is one of the most disaster-prone states in the country. Since 2000, Texas has received more federal major disaster declarations than nearly any other state, including for Hurricanes Harvey, Ike, and Rita; winter storm Uri; tornado outbreaks; and catastrophic flooding events. Hurricane Harvey alone caused an estimated $125 billion in damage. Texas also already has one of the worst homeowners’ insurance markets in the country — with premiums among the highest in the nation and carriers regularly pulling out of the market. Weakening FEMA’s role puts all of this recovery infrastructure at further risk.

Trump’s FEMA Review Council’s recommendations will further gut disaster response and make it harder and more expensive for communities to recover:

• The Council’s recommendations will push the financial and administrative burden of disaster recovery onto states and local communities, making it more expensive for people to rebuild.
• The Council recommended encouraging private insurance companies to take over more flood insurance policies from the National Flood Insurance Program – making it more difficult for people to get coverage, pushing people into potentially more expensive policies, and further exacerbating the homeowners’ insurance crisis.
• On top of that, Trump’s tariffs were expected to slow down disaster recovery efforts and make them more expensive. The National Association of Home Builders estimated a cost increase of $10,900 per home due to tariffs on construction materials.
• Trump has already undermined 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 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 taken longer to approve or deny federal disaster aid than previous administrations, especially for states that did not vote for him. Trump has taken an average of 63 days to make decisions about Democratic states’ disaster assistance requests.
• 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%, which would have resulted in the loss of more than 11,500 jobs.
• Trump has already been pushing the cost of recovery onto states. 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 have sat longer on average than at any other point in the previous 37 years.
• 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.

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