FEMA Grants: States Worry Under Trump
- Upheaval at the nation's top disaster agency is raising anxiety among state and local emergency managers - and leaving major questions about the whereabouts of billions of federal...
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency still has not opened applications for an enormous suite of grants, including ones that many states rely on to pay for basic emergency...
- FEMA has blown through the mid-May statutory deadline to start the grants' application process according to the National Emergency Management Association, with no word about why or what...
Delays in FEMA grant applications and potential funding cuts are sparking worry among state and local emergency managers, notably those heavily reliant on federal support for vital disaster preparedness operations. The central issue revolves around the uncertainty surrounding the timing and availability of critical funds, specifically impacting projects and programs designed to protect communities. The situation is further complicated by shifts in grant review processes and the potential for reduced federal spending which will require proactive planning and diversification of funding sources. This article explores how states are grappling with these challenges, including seeking choice revenue streams. Read more at News Directory 3 for deep insights into the effects and learn what’s next.
FEMA Grant Delays Raise Concerns Among Emergency Managers
Updated June 27, 2025
Upheaval at the nation’s top disaster agency is raising anxiety among state and local emergency managers – and leaving major questions about the whereabouts of billions of federal dollars it pays out to them.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency still has not opened applications for an enormous suite of grants, including ones that many states rely on to pay for basic emergency management operations. Some states pass on much of that money to their most rural, low-income counties to ensure they have an emergency manager on the payroll.
FEMA has blown through the mid-May statutory deadline to start the grants’ application process according to the National Emergency Management Association, with no word about why or what that might indicate.The delay appears to have little precedent.
“There’s no transparency on why it’s not happening,” said Michael A. Coen Jr., who served as FEMA’s chief of staff under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe biden.
FEMA’s system of grants is complex and multifaceted and helps communities prepare for and respond to everything from terrorist attacks to natural disasters.
In April, the agency abruptly rescinded a different grant program that county and local governments were expecting to help them reduce natural hazard risks moving forward. The clawback of money included hundreds of millions already pledged. FEMA also quietly withdrew a notice for states to apply for $600 million in flood mitigation grants.
On top of that, on June 11, U.S.Department of Homeland Security Secretary kristi Noem began requiring that she review all FEMA grants above $100,000. That could slow its vast multibillion grants apparatus to a crawl, current and former FEMA employees said.
FEMA did not answer ProPublica’s questions about the missed application deadline or the impact of funding cuts and delays, instead responding with a statement from DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin that Noem is focused on bringing accountability to FEMA’s spending by “rooting out waste, fraud, abuse, and working to ensure only grants that realy help Americans in time of need are approved.”
the memo announcing the change arrived the day after President Donald Trump said he wants to begin dismantling FEMA at the close of hurricane season this fall.
All of this has left states – some of which rely on the federal government for the vast majority of their emergency management funding – in a difficult position. While Trump has sharply criticized FEMA’s performance delivering aid after disasters strike, he has said almost nothing about the future of its grant programs.
“It’s a huge concern,” said Lynn Budd, president of the National Emergency Management Association and director of the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, which houses emergency management. the state agency gets more than 90% of its operating budget from federal funds, especially FEMA grants. “The uncertainty makes it very difficult,” she said.
In north Carolina, a state hit hard by a recent natural disaster, federal grants make up 82% of its emergency management agency’s budget. North Carolina Emergency Management leaders are pressing state lawmakers to provide it with “funding that will sustain the agency and its core functions” and cut its reliance on federal grant funding, an agency spokesperson said.
A forced weaning off of federal dollars could have an outsize impact in North Carolina and the other states that pass on much of their FEMA grants to county and local agencies. Many rural counties have modest tax bases and are already stretched thin.
In May, ProPublica published a story detailing the horrors of Hurricane Helene’s impact on one of those counties, Yancey. Home to 19,000 people, it suffered the largest per capita loss of life and damage to property in the storm. Jeff howell, its emergency manager, was operating with only a part-time employee and said that for years he had been asking the county commission for more help. It wasn’t until after the storm that county commissioners agreed with the need.
“They realized how big a job it is,” said Howell, who has since retired.
But even large metropolitan counties rely on the grants.The hold upin opening the grant applications concerns Robert Wike Graham, deputy director of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management, which serves an area of 1.2 million people and is home to a nuclear power plant. The training and preparation FEMA grants help the agency pay for are critical to keeping the community safe in the face of a nuclear catastrophe.
Yet graham said he has resorted to scouring social media posts and news reports for bits of clues about the grants – and the future of FEMA itself.
“We’re all having to be like, hey, what have you heard? What do you know? What’s going on? Nobody knows,” graham said.
What’s next
The situation remains fluid as states and local agencies await further guidance from FEMA. The uncertainty surrounding federal funding underscores the need for proactive planning and diversification of funding sources to ensure effective emergency preparedness and response capabilities.