ICYMI: FEMA Can Still Support Storm Relief During Shutdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Contrary to claims from the Trump administration that a partial government shutdown would jeopardize operations at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA has enough cash on hand to weather the massive winter storm blanketing most of the United States. Per AP News, FEMA “would have about $7 billion to $8 billion in its Disaster Relief Fund,” even in the case that Congressional funding expires at midnight. 

"Don't lump FEMA in with the Department of Homeland Security in this funding conversation,” said Sabotaging our Safety Advisory Council Member Rafael Lemaitre. “The Agency has enough on hand to support winter storm disaster relief. Right now, we need to focus on the immediate crisis at hand—families without power, communities cut off by ice and snow, and emergency responders working around the clock to save lives. An independent FEMA would have direct congressional accountability and could not be dismantled by a single secretary's incompetence or political games."

AP News: FEMA could still support winter storm response in a shutdown, despite administration warnings

The Federal Emergency Management Agency would have enough money to respond to the massive winter storm still impacting large swaths of the U.S. even if a partial government shutdown begins at midnight Friday, experts and former FEMA officials said, despite Trump administration warnings to the contrary.

FEMA would have about $7 billion to $8 billion in its Disaster Relief Fund, even if the money Congress appropriated for the fund in the November spending bill that ended the longest government shutdown were to expire Friday at midnight, according to two people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss FEMA funding with the media.

Experts said the remaining balance should be enough to limit impacts on the winter storm response, at least in the short term.

“They have enough money for winter storm recovery and anything else likely to come up in the next few weeks,” said Sarah Labowitz, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of the Disaster Dollar Database, which tracks federal disaster spending…

Trump administration officials have cited the storm and FEMA’s response to it as a reason to avoid a shutdown.

“We are in the midst of the winter storm that took place over the weekend, and many Americans are still being impacted by that, so we absolutely do not want to see that funding lapse,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.

DHS did not respond to requests for comment.

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