It reads like a routine government memo that’s laden with grandiose promises.
But the little-noticed executive order released by the White House on Tuesday is perhaps the clearest signal that President Donald Trump is stepping back from his threats to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The order assured some disaster experts and officials that Trump could mean to spare the agency at a time of growing damage from extreme weather, and opt instead to overhaul the nation’s response to disasters.
“It’s so different from the path we’re seeing at other agencies,” said Sarah Labowitz, a disaster expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “They’re not issuing an executive order that said, ‘Get rid of FEMA.’ They’re issuing an executive order saying they’re going to do a 240-day review of resilience strategy, which is a good thing to do.”
Trump stirred widespread concern four days after taking office when he vowed to “begin the process of reforming FEMA or getting rid of FEMA” and added, “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away.”
Since then, the Trump administration has fired 200 probationary FEMA employees, culled climate-focused documents from the agency’s website, halted FEMA payments for undocumented migrants, and launched reviews that jeopardize other programs.
By contrast, Trump’s 1,200-word order on Tuesday was mundane. It requires national security adviser Michael Waltz and other senior officials to establish policies this year to strengthen the nation’s resilience to disasters and other threats, such as cyberattacks.
Some of the policies that Waltz was instructed to develop already exist. A National Resilience Strategy ordered by Trump was published by the Biden administration in January.
The executive order also reflects Trump’s statements about wanting to give states more leadership in disaster response while reducing the role of the federal government — ideas that FEMA itself has previously suggested and attempted.
“For far too long, state and local governments have … neglected investing in resilience, infrastructure, and disaster preparedness because they can count on an unlimited backstop from the federal government — an unsustainable and irresponsible strategy that has resulted in needless destruction and death of everyday Americans,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told POLITICO’s E&E News in a statement Wednesday.
“The Trump administration is committed to shoring up our disaster relief apparatus by working with state and local governments to prioritize resilience and preparedness,” Desai added. The executive order is titled “Achieving Efficiency Through State and Local Preparedness,” and mirrors FEMA’s long-standing emphasis on reducing damage and casualties from hurricanes, wildfires and floods.
The administration will “streamline” preparedness operations, “reduce complexity” and require state and local governments and individuals to “play a more active and significant role in national resilience,” the order said.
“When I read it, I was more hopeful that they’re now coming to the realization that the role of the federal government is critical,” said Michael Coen, who was FEMA’s chief of staff during the Biden administration.
“It was like what you would have seen from the first Trump administration. The initial executive order seemed to be reactive,” Coen said, referring to Trump’s creation in January of an expert council to review FEMA and recommend changes. “This one seemed to be more thoughtful.”
The Union of Concerned Scientists, a liberal advocacy group, said in a statement Wednesday that the administration needs to assure the nation that it “will maintain its indispensable role in responding to major disasters.”
No support for dumping FEMA
“I am very concerned that the implications of this order will mean less support for communities,” said Shana Udvardy, the group’s senior climate resilience policy analyst, in the statement.
Although Trump’s suggestion about abolishing FEMA drew virtually no support publicly, it helped establish agreement in Congress and among officials that federal disaster response needs to be improved as disasters become more frequent and more destructive.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana, told E&E News in a statement Wednesday that there are widespread concerns about “how FEMA delivers disaster relief.”
Scalise, whose coastal Louisiana district has been battered by hurricanes and flooding, said he looks forward to seeing recommendations from the FEMA expert council and working with Trump “to improve the federal government’s ability to better deliver disaster assistance.”
House Republicans at a hearing on FEMA this month called for the agency to be overhauled, while some expressed support for its abolition.
“In the broader context of what’s happening with remaking the federal government, this is on a different path,” said Labowitz, of Carnegie. “We haven’t seen this kind of pushback with EPA or USAID.”
“There is a very clear political constituency that would be deeply affected as soon as this summer if FEMA were to fundamentally change the way it operates,” Labowitz added. “It’s not just about money. FEMA provides a set of capabilities because they have a nationwide workforce that can parachute into a disaster zone and coordinate the immense power of the federal government.”
An analysis of FEMA data by Labowitz shows that Republicans hold 15 of the 22 congressional districts in which residents have been the most reliant on FEMA aid after disasters since 2021.
FEMA provides roughly $45 billion a year in disaster relief to states, communities and individuals and also has the power to order other federal agencies including the Defense Department to help in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
The agency has struggled for 20 years — since Hurricane Katrina led to catastrophic flood damage in New Orleans — to respond quickly and effectively to devastating disasters such as Hurricane Helene, which swamped large swaths of the Southeast in October. Trump assailed FEMA in January when he visited western North Carolina, where Helene caused river flooding that demolished houses, roads and buildings.
The FEMA review council created by Trump, led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is expected to start meeting in April and must issue a report by late July.
