Watchdog report finds concerns over potential FEMA changes

The nonpartisan watchdog arm of Congress finds praise among local and state officials over how the Federal Emergency Management Agency initially responded to Tropical Storm Helene.

This comes as the Trump administration has delayed its report on whether to eliminate or shrink the agency.

The watchdog said doubts about the agency’s future have left many state and local officials concerned.

President Donald Trump has had his sights on FEMA since taking office last January.

“I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away and we pay a percentage to the state,” Trump said during a visit to North Carolina in January 2025.

His opinion of FEMA is reflected in part by his criticism of the agency’s response to Tropical Storm Helene in western North Carolina.

But a new report by the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office found support for how FEMA initially handled the storm.

“We talked to state and local officials, and they were very, very complimentary of the support, the coordination, they were getting from FEMA. FEMA was there all along.” said GAO Director Chris Currie.

Currie wrote the report, which was based on 50 interviews with local, state and federal officials, including in North Carolina and other states battered by the storm.

FEMA’s future has been uncertain ever since Trump created a review council to look at what to do with the agency, including possibly disbanding its current form.

The council was expected to release its recommendations in December, but the report was delayed. A month later, it’s unclear when or if the report will actually come out. Spectrum News asked the White House and DHS, FEMA’s parent agency, when that report might be released but did not get an answer by deadline.

“They don’t know what to prepare for. That’s the biggest concern I think states have right now,” Currie said.

Currie said it’s also put FEMA officials in a difficult spot.

“It is clear to me right now they are a little bit hamstrung in what they can do and what they can say about the future because they’re waiting on the council report,” Currie said. “They don’t know what their mandate is going to be from the administration in terms of change.”

The report said at least one state is preparing contingency plans, including for potential reductions in federal assistance.

“FEMA and the federal government provided a tremendous amount of support to state and local governments, and so if you were to yank that away, or to change that drastically without the states having an opportunity to prepare, that could be very bad,” Currie said.

Although the report found praise for FEMA’s initial handling of Helene, Currie said there is across the board agreement that changes should be made to FEMA, specifically when it comes to long-term response.

“No doubt there is a lot of frustration with FEMA,” Currie said. “People are very frustrated with the bureaucracy, the slowness of the monies, the grants, the back and forth, the fighting with FEMA on reconstruction projects.”

The concern, Currie said, is what changes the administration will choose to make, especially coming off a slow hurricane season.

“There may be changes made or staff reductions made, based on assumptions that states don’t need as much support, or states can handle this on their own and we don’t find out that they actually can’t until something bad actually happens,” Currie said.