ICYMI: Texas State Representative Calls on Governor Abbott to Withdraw Support from FEMA Review Council

TEXAS — Last week, Texas State Representative Jon Rosenthal (District 135) sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott demanding he withdraw his support from the Trump administration's FEMA Review Council and publicly oppose further cuts to FEMA's workforce and programs.The letter comes less than a year after the July 4, 2025 Kerr County floods claimed 135 Texan lives — a disaster in which FEMA missed 58% of emergency calls while survivors desperately sought help.

Per the letter, Texas ranks among the top recipients of federal disaster aid, pulling in an average of $1.4 billion from FEMA annually since 2015 — equivalent to roughly 1.8% of the entire state budget. That dependence only grows when you consider that Texas already faces a $44 billion flood infrastructure gap, with 2.1 million properties projected to be at risk of flooding over the next three decades. Gutting FEMA now, the Rep. Rosenthal argues, would be nothing short of catastrophic for the state.

KXAN Austin: Democratic lawmaker calls on Abbott to withdraw support for new FEMA recommendations

“Rosenthal’s letter to Abbott reads as a passionate defense of FEMA — at least FEMA the way it operated prior to the start of the second Trump administration.

“You joined the President’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Review Council designed to gut FEMA as an agency,” he wrote. “This will be particularly disastrous for Texans as we rely on FEMA to support disaster relief and recovery efforts. FEMA provides financial assistance and temporary housing for displaced survivors, funds the repair of public infrastructure, and offers hazard mitigation grants to rebuild communities more resiliently.

Rosenthal cites specific examples of how much Abbott has relied on FEMA as Governor.

“Texas is one of the largest beneficiaries of FEMA programs, receiving an average of $1.4 billion per year in federal disaster aid since 2015,” Rosenthal said. “After Winter Storm Uri, after the

Derecho, after Hurricane Beryl, Hurricane Harvey, and disaster after disaster. You understand the consequences when FEMA fails to show up.”

In the shared statement, Abbott’s office didn’t shy away from this fact — instead highlighting it as a reason the recommendations are even better for Texas.

“Texas is consistently impacted by multiple natural disasters and (Abbott) believes that these reforms, when implemented, will be more effective for the state’s response efforts,” it says.

A few months after Abbott’s appointment to the council, Central Texas experienced devastating and deadly floods on Independence Day. Rosenthal says cuts to FEMA left the state ‘completely unprepared when the floods came.’”

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