Defending FEMA in the Age of Climate Crisis
Amid the Trump Administration’s renewed investment in fossil fuels and denial of climate science, it has also aggressively begun dismantling the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an agency that is vital for helping victims of climate disasters. We’re pushing back to ensure that communities across the country can depend on the federal government when disaster strikes.
Risks associated with the Trump’s assault on climate science are being compounded by the Administrations’ relentless attacks on the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA. As a result, Americans who face the threat of increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events fueled by climate change are also facing uncertainty about whether federal aid will be available if/when it is needed most.
As part of his Project 2025 agenda, President Trump ordered a review of federal disaster relief and froze federal disaster aid. Citing systemic inefficiencies and political bias within federal disaster relief initiatives, President Trump argues that states would be better off managing the enormous cost of disaster relief themselves.
Despite its claims of FEMA’s inefficacy, the Trump Administration reported in February that FEMA was continuing to help over 153,000 households, demonstrating the great need for its assistance.
After staffing cuts, consistent denials or withholding of aid, and reassignment of staff to support ICE, it’s less and less certain that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be equipped to adequately respond to a future disaster.
Disasters Fueled by Climate Change
The climate research nonprofit Climate Central re-publicized data by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which taken down by the Trump Administration in May 2025, and — using the same methodology as former NOAA scientists — showed that the first few months of 2025 were those most expensive first six months of any year since 1980, when data collection began. During this time frame, the United States experienced 14 different disasters. Together, these disasters cost $101.4 billion, with the Los Angeles wildfires of January 2025 being the costliest at $60 billion, which is twice as much as the previous record. This same 45-year dataset illustrates that the average number of billion-dollar disasters has grown from 3 annual events to 19, with 2023 and 2024 being particularly exceptional, having brought 28 and 27 billion-dollar disasters respectively.
Unfortunately, this trend is expected to worsen: according to a 2024 study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, these costs will only continue increasing, with the global cost of extreme weather change projected to exceed $38 trillion by 2050. This increasing rate and scale of destruction, coupled with the Trump Administration’s dissolution of key federal agencies like FEMA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has significantly undermined the ability of states and local governments to adequately and comprehensively respond to disasters, especially to protect the most vulnerable populations.
FEMA's Staffing Crisis
Because of the existential threats facing the agency, FEMA is undergoing a major brain drain, with experts in the disaster management field leaving its top leadership positions. These departures came as FEMA had already been experiencing significant capacity challenges, with the Government Accountability Office reporting in 2023 that “FEMA has had trouble building a workforce…. It has fallen short of its yearly staffing target since 2019—and that gap continues to grow.” As climate change worsens extreme weather events, and with the Administration topping the list of longest federal disaster relief delays in over a decade, leaving survivors for months without any sort of support, the outlook for future disasters is catastrophic.
Funding to States and Localities Withheld
As recovery costs increase, states recognize that they cannot afford to keep rebuilding and are investing in mitigation projects. Projects funded by FEMA, whether through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program (BRIC) or the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), create resilient communities that experience significantly fewer damages caused by extreme weather disasters. If FEMA is eliminated, states will lose access to critical funding and resources for mitigation projects. Instead, the burden of mitigation costs will fall onto state taxpayers as states and localities increase taxes to fund necessary projects. Building resilient infrastructure is increasingly expensive and would be increasingly difficult for state and local budgets to absorb these additional costs without raising taxes that often impact the people who need the help the most.
FEMA Review Council: Helping or Hurting?
Following Hurricane Helene’s devastation of southern Appalachia, and the alleged systemic politicization of disaster aid dissemination with FEMA, President Trump issued an executive order shortly after his inauguration to establish the FEMA Review Council. The appointees to the council recently published a report advising President Trump on how to change FEMA.
How FEMA Can Be Improved
Communities depend on federal disaster relief in times of crisis. While rebuilding after living through a devastating flood, people in need are not interested in what politicians are discussing in Washington; they want to be able to easily apply for aid and be awarded enough funding from the taxes they pay to put their lives back together. To improve FEMA, lawmakers should prioritize passing legislation that would ensure:
- FEMA’s disaster relief programs are fully funded with adequate staff, guaranteeing immediate and long-term support for disaster survivors.
- The application process for FEMA disaster aid is accessible, easy to use, streamlined, transparent, and understandable to all users.
- Federal disaster aid is deployed based on need, in strict compliance with civil rights laws.
- All who are displaced by disasters are given safe and secure temporary housing near or within their home community.
- Disaster relief is supplied safely, equitably, consistently, and understandably to all who are affected, for as long as they need in order to recover housing, jobs, and property.
- Renters and anyone experiencing homelessness before the disaster quickly get quality, affordable, accessible rental property in safe, quality neighborhoods of their choice.
- All neighborhoods are free from environmental hazards, have quality and accessible public infrastructure, and are safe and resilient.
The Solution: The Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act, or “FEMA” Act of 2025
CCAN Action Fund is joining leading advocacy organizations, state and local officials, emergency managers, and disaster response organizations in supporting the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act, or “FEMA” Act of 2025. As the Trump Administration consistently advocates for FEMA’s dissolution, and as the Trump-appointed FEMA Review Council considers ways to reform the agency, CCAN Action Fund applauds this bipartisan effort to improve federal emergency response and reject calls to relinquish responsibility for robust disaster response.
What CCAN is Doing
- In summer 2025, we sent an organizational letter to then-Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin urging him to use his influence on the FEMA Council to improve the agency.
- In August, we held a webinar to educate our members on the changes FEMA is facing, and how it can be improved.
- In October, we held a press conference alongside Virginia advocates and local elected officials to mark the delivery of our petition signed by CCAN members urging Youngkin to use his position on the FEMA Council to improve the agency.
- We endorsed the FEMA Act of 2025, and are calling on Congress to pass it!
Resources and Key Articles
Resources
- CCAN FEMA Organizational Comment
- Press Release: CCAN Action Fund Joins Bipartisan Effort to Fix FEMA
- Petition to Protect FEMA and Protect Virginia
- Organizational Letter For a Strengthened FEMA
- FEMA Press Conference Livestream
- The Future of FEMA and Risks to a Disaster-Prone Virginia
Key Articles
- But Next Time: Storm Survivors Demand Overhaul Of Disaster Recovery System – New Jersey Resource Project
- HUD – Allocations for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery and Implementation of the CDBG–DR Notice (UN AAN)
- National Low Income Housing Center – Disaster Housing Recovery, Research, & Resilience
- FEMA Withholds $300 Million in Grants Until States Account for Deportations – The New York Times
- Judge orders Trump administration to preserve $233M in FEMA grants it attempted to pull from blue states
- Billion-dollar disasters are increasing and FEMA’s workforce may not be ready to respond
- GAO says Trump moves to withhold FEMA grants are illegal
- What Cuts to Climate Agencies Mean for a Government Shutdown
- Congress Let the National Flood Insurance Program Expire—Here’s Who’s in Trouble First
