President Donald Trump’s expert panel on disaster response is scheduled to release a long-delayed report next week — and it could launch an overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The “FEMA Review Council,” led by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, will hold its first public meeting since August on May 7, when it will vote on a report that’s likely to recommend major changes to federal disaster programs.
It’s uncertain whether Trump will embrace the panel’s ideas, which he required through an executive order early last year after assailing FEMA as slow-footed in the wake of disasters and suggesting that the agency be eliminated.
“I’m not sure it’s going to make a difference,” said a former senior FEMA official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the pending report. “I don’t really believe that the White House and the president are really interested or motivated to champion this given all of what’s happened and what’s happening now.”
