President Donald Trump is taking steps toward examining the effectiveness of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In a Friday executive order, Trump established a council to review FEMA’s response to recent disasters such as Hurricane Helene and the California wildfires. He pointed out the need to improve the organization’s efficiency.
“Despite obligating nearly $30 billion in disaster aid each of the past three years, FEMA has managed to leave vulnerable Americans without the resources or support they need when they need it most,” the order reads.
According to the order, the council will consist of up to 20 members, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The council will hold regular meetings and report any recommended changes to Trump.
The order mandates that the council hold its first public meeting within 90 days of the order and report to the president within 180 days of the meeting.
Trump has floated the idea of eliminating the bureaucracy of FEMA and leaving emergency responses to the states.
“I think when you have a problem like this, I think you want to use your state to fix it and not waste time calling FEMA,” Trump said.
According to Trump, governors would be able to respond to disasters more quickly than FEMA officials.
Trump’s idea could cause emergency responses to happen more efficiently. Rather than waiting for federal bureaucracies to send responders, assess the damage, and assign relief, governors can initiate responses on their own.
A caveat to the plan, however, is that the states need to be properly equipped to deal with an emergency. A large state such as Texas would likely be able to have more effective responses to disasters than a smaller state such as Kansas.
Trump has also attacked FEMA for acting politically, stemming from a report that a FEMA executive advised responders to avoid homes with Trump signs.
“There are serious concerns of political bias in FEMA,” according to the executive order. “It has lost mission focus, diverting limited staff and resources to support missions beyond its scope and authority, spending well over a billion dollars to welcome illegal aliens.”
A possible alternative to FEMA would be to divert funds originally allocated to FEMA to states. The states could use the funds along with state revenues to build up an emergency fund in case of disasters.
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While the proposed policy could work, it is likely that FEMA would need to be phased out slowly. A complete and immediate elimination of FEMA could leave states vulnerable. Should a disaster strike before they can accumulate proper resources, states would not have an efficient response.
If Trump’s council works as intended, it is likely that FEMA will stay in place, albeit with some tweaks and improvements. If the council shows that FEMA is wildly inefficient, the Trump administration should take steps to phase out FEMA, while ensuring that the states are put in a proper position to respond to disasters themselves.