As Wildfires Rage, Georgia Depends On FEMA – But Kemp Won’t Defend It
Georgia has collected hundreds of millions in federal disaster aid and made no public effort to defend the agency now being dismantled by the administration he refuses to criticize
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As wildfires tear through South Georgia and President Donald Trump takes an axe to FEMA, Governor Brian Kemp is conspicuously silent about cuts to the agency—a stunning reversal for a politician who has never hesitated to demand FEMA's help for disasters in the state. After Hurricane Helene, Kemp personally lobbied the agency to expand disaster coverage from 11 counties to 63, securing more than $614.7 million in federal assistance. Georgia has received 12 federal disaster declarations during Kemp’s tenure, but now, as flames consume his state and the Trump administration systematically dismantles the very agency Georgians rely on, Georgia's governor has nothing to say.
"Kemp knows exactly what FEMA means to Georgia. The state has requested federal disaster aid more than a dozen times. He lobbied for it, celebrated it, and took credit for it. But the moment standing up for Georgia families meant standing up to Donald Trump, he went silent. Georgians deserve a governor who fights for them even when it’s politically inconvenient," said Sabotaging Our Safety Council Member Lauren Groh-Wargo.
By September 2025, Senator Raphael Warnock had documented that the Trump administration was withholding nearly $500 million in already-approved Helene reimbursements — money Georgia counties had already spent on debris removal, road repairs, and utility restoration. The withheld total grew to over $600 million by December 2025. After sustained pressure, FEMA released $389 million, but $311 million remains unpaid as of March 2026. It was Warnock — not Kemp — who fought publicly and repeatedly for Georgia's money. Kemp has made no public statement criticizing the withheld reimbursements.
FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which can fund firebreaks, fuel reduction, and community resilience projects, had been brought to a near-standstill by a DHS policy requiring Secretary Noem's personal sign-off on every grant over $100,000. Georgia authorized a $368 million HMGP ceiling under the Helene declaration. As of April 24, $0 has been obligated for any regular mitigation project — 24 pending applications and $13.2 million in proposed federal shares sit unprocessed. The only states to receive any Helene-related HMGP project funding were those whose Republican lawmakers personally lobbied Noem. There is no record of Kemp making any such appeal.
Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to eliminate FEMA entirely, cut its workforce from 29,000 to roughly 23,000, canceled its primary pre-disaster mitigation grant program, and proposed eliminating all non-disaster FEMA grant programs in his FY2027 budget.
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