Congress is aiming to use the Department of Homeland Security spending bill this year to block some Trump administration cuts to federal disaster aid and disaster staffing.
A bipartisan agreement released Tuesday on DHS spending for fiscal 2026 would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “maintain staffing levels” sufficient to “fulfill the missions” required under current federal law.
The Trump administration is considering significant cuts to the FEMA workforce, which dropped to 22,368 employees at the end of 2025 from 23,903 at the beginning of the year, a 6.5 percent decline.
The new spending proposal also would prevent FEMA from closing any of its 10 regional offices or blocking disaster aid for snowstorms, which the Trump administration has suggested as it vows to weaken the agency and shift disaster recovery costs to states.
