Trump administration makes major changes to a report it commissioned on FEMA reforms, AP sources say

A draft of a much-anticipated description on reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been whittled down in size with recommendations compiled by a council appointed by the president slashed and amended by Homeland Safeguard Secretary Kristi Noem s office according to three people familiar with the developments The assessment got nuked noted one former FEMA official The three people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue with the media commented the document shrunk from over pages to roughly They reported it left council members and other emergency management leaders concerned that particular of the recommendations about the country s catastrophe preparedness won t make it into the final copy which is expected around Dec The draft review s downsizing reflects the Trump administration s push to disengage the federal cabinet from calamity management and the agency overseeing it FEMA pushing more responsibility for preparing responding to and recovering from weather on states tribes and territories The former bureaucrats explained that cutting a few of the original recommendations and adding others that further diminish FEMA will not only show that the administration is intervening politically in a professional undertaking They noted the changed recommendations could ultimately leave states and other governments unequipped to prepare for or recover from disasters Those who oppose shrinking FEMA say majority of state and local governments can t take on more of the enormous financial and logistical strains of rebuilding especially as the frequency and severity of extreme weather wrought by state change grows and that FEMA plays a key coordinating role shepherding help from across the federal regime DHS did not instantly respond to requests for comment Sought about the status of the overview White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson commented the review council will recommend to President Donald Trump how FEMA may be reformed such that the Federal role remains supplemental and appropriate to the scale of accident and that Secretary Noem is working hard to implement the President s vision that will best serve the American citizens The initial draft sought reforms to FEMA The council appointed by Trump and made up almost exclusively by members from Republican-led states who aid critical FEMA reforms finished a draft overview in early November of over pages according to the three people A table of contents obtained by the AP manifested the initial draft included nine key principles including reforming citizens assistance flood insurance direct assistance to survivors and improving rural resilience It also included sections on foreseen reforms to the Stafford Act which dictates most of of FEMA s officers and proposes a phased approach to the changes to prepare state and local governments Two former representatives familiar with the matter recounted the AP the initial recommendations included several of the reforms Trump and Noem have repeatedly touted including giving states upfront direct grants for mishap recovery instead of reimbursing for the work after it s done a process that is often criticized for being too slow and bureaucratic Other initial recommendations would reduce how much FEMA pays for disasters by reducing the federal cost share below its current minimum of and raising the threshold of how much a catastrophe must be estimated to cost before FEMA recommends to the president that it receive a major tragedy declaration Declarations are ultimately up to the president regardless of that formula The new draft cuts proposed reforms and makes others After submitting the draft in early November to DHS for comment and approval council members learned Noem s office cut the summary to around pages the former authorities noted Two people who had not seen the DHS version but are close to members of the council who did announced the new draft removes any mention of mitigation programs and slashes preparedness dollars for local crisis management agencies The AP could not independently confirm other changes made to the draft Noem called a last-minute meeting of the FEMA Review Council on Wednesday afternoon DHS did not respond to questions about the meeting The AP could not reach council members for comment At a accident resilience conference in Florida Wednesday council member and Florida Division of Exigency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie announced federal funds would continue to come down to states but that with legislative changes the money could potentially arrive in days and weeks hinting at the transition to using direct grants He did not address the draft overview in his remarks Multiple of the expected recommendations would require action by Congress because the Stafford Act lays out the greater part of FEMA s responsibilities Other changes could be implemented by Trump or the FEMA administrator A Republican-dominated council For nearly a year the council has been meeting around the country holding listening sessions in disaster-impacted places and surveying urgency management professionals and others on how to restructuring FEMA and streamline federal advocacy after disasters Trump created the review council by executive order on Jan the same day he proposed getting rid of FEMA after touring Hurricane Helene damage in North Carolina It is co-chaired by Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth though Hegseth did not attend the last of three community meetings and Noem attended two meetings virtually The members are almost exclusively from Republican-led states and include the urgency management directors of Texas and Florida Virginia Gov Glenn Youngkin and Texas Gov Greg Abbott Former Mississippi Gov Phil Bryant is vice chair Members held three society meetings between May and August in Washington D C New Orleans and Oklahoma City along with multiple closed-door listening sessions with Native tribes and in disaster-impacted states and territories including North Carolina and Puerto Rico They also surveyed emergency management directors and others involved with calamity recovery Experts hoped that what they held was a thorough approach would mean that the final recommendations would be reflective of the broad input Source