What is Fema, the US emergency agency under fire from Trump?
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The federal agency’s mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Jan 26 issued an executive order establishing a review council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), just days after he floated shuttering the agency whose resources are strained following multiple weather-related disasters and which is burdened by past failures in handling massive storms.
On Jan 24, the Republican President floated the idea of shutting down Fema
What is Fema?
The federal agency’s mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods. Fema brings in emergency personnel, supplies and equipment to stricken areas.
Its reputation was battered by its poor handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the agency has struggled to recover. Mr Trump has criticised Fema on the campaign trail and since taking office on Jan 20.
Fema has a workforce of 20,000 people that can swell to more than 50,000 active members during major disasters, according to its website. It has 10 regional offices and the capacity to coordinate resources from across the federal government.
Officially created in 1979, it became part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2004.
Trump criticism
Mr Trump has accused Fema of bungling emergency relief efforts in North Carolina and said he preferred that states be given federal money to handle disasters themselves. During a visit on Jan 24, he said the agency should be fundamentally reformed or even scrapped.
“Fema has turned out to be a disaster,” he said during a tour of a North Carolina neighbourhood destroyed by September 2024’s Hurricane Helene. “I think we recommend that Fema go away.”
Mr Trump also criticised California’s response to recent wildfires that devastated Los Angeles, but he pledged during a visit to work with California Governor Gavin Newsom and offered help to LA Mayor Karen Bass.
Fema staffing
Fema says it is currently supporting 108 major disasters and 10 emergency declarations. According to its daily operations briefing, 17 per cent of its disaster-response workforce is available.
After Mr Trump said he wanted to overhaul or scrap Fema, the agency’s acting head Cam Hamilton wrote to staff and assured them that “Fema is a critical agency which performs an essential mission in support of our national security”. Mr Hamilton is a former Navy Seal whom Mr Trump appointed to temporarily lead the agency after taking office last week.
Fema funding
Funding for the agency has soared in recent years as extreme weather events boosted demand for its services. The agency received US$29 billion (S$39 billion) from Congress in December 2024 to fund ongoing relief efforts.
A Fema spokesperson told Reuters last week that the agency has not received additional funding to reimburse states for ongoing recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina and the US South-east in late September 2024.
There has been no presidential action or congressional appropriation under the current Trump administration to provide additional funds to Fema for hurricane recovery efforts, and no credible reports of such funding.
Disinformation campaign
While responding to real-life disasters, Fema has also battled a slew of false rumours about how its funds have been used.
Before his re-election, Mr Trump and his Republican allies accused former president Joe Biden and vice-president Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, of using federal emergency money to help people who were in the country illegally.
US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene went as far as to say that government officials control the weather.
Fema has been the target of so many falsehoods that it has set up a rumour response page on its website to tamp them down.
One entry addresses the accusation that Fema diverted funds to the border.
“This is false. No money is being diverted from disaster-response needs. Fema’s disaster-response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts,” the agency said.
Fema failures
The agency has been criticised for emergency responses to hurricanes that fell short, including Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017. Residents accused then President Trump of being slow to dispatch aid after Maria and clumsy in his public remarks once it was clear the US territory had been devastated.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and flooded parts of the city as residents crowded into ill-prepared shelters.
Katrina devastated the Gulf of Mexico coast and caused more than 1,800 deaths. It also shattered the reputation of Fema, which was sharply criticised for its response. REUTERS
