Trump task force recommends sweeping changes to FEMA — but not eliminating it

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's task force to recommend changes to FEMA approved a report Thursday that would not dismantle the disaster response agency — as some in the administration wanted — but would transfer many current federal tasks to the states, privatize flood insurance and release federal money to the states in the form of grants rather than reimbursements.

"Federal assistance should only be reserved for truly significant events that exceed state, local, tribal, territorial capacity and capability," said Michael Whatley, a member of the President's Council to Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency and former chair of the Republican National Committee.

The council was charged to look deeply into how FEMA operates and make recommendations to Trump for improvements.

In its draft report, forwarded to Trump without objection, recommendations include establishing a common criteria to evaluate needs in advance rather than to assess damages after the storm, he said.

Grants for construction on things like homes and levees, designed to lessen the extent of damage, take about 27 months of application and review before local governments can receive federal funding, said Robert Fenton Jr., a former regional FEMA administrator.

That usually is after rebuilding from a disaster is well underway.

"Our recommendation here in the council is to really turn this program over to the state and let the state manage this program by providing the resources and an architecture that will ensure that priorities are naturally aligned and that some of the complexities of the environmental review and some of the other reviews are done locally," Fenton said.

For individual assistance, the council recommends consolidating the various programs into a less complex, direct payment package that would include more focus on emergency housing.

Another of the recommendations forwarded to Trump is to transfer much of the National Flood Insurance Program from federal oversight to private insurers, which would lower taxpayer costs and give state regulators more power. Nearly a half-million Louisiana property owners have federal flood insurance policies — many require it to get a home mortgage.

"We would recommend launching a takeout program where we transfer those federal policies to the private sector," Fenton said. "We need to incentivize states and communities to adopt better land use policies, where they build and how they build can't be in risk areas."

Five percent of the insured properties account for almost 40% of the program's payouts. Flood insurance is more than $20 billion in debt and could collapse with a single significant event, Fenton said.

Panelists doubled down on Risk Rating 2.0, which raised flood insurance premiums for many in Louisiana. The process better aligns policy pricing with the property's risk for flooding.

Fenton said perhaps some accommodation could be added to buy out frequently flooded properties.

"We sought the input from everyone. It wasn't based on red states, blue states," said Mark Cooper, former chief of staff for Gov. John Bel Edwards and a member of the task force. The panel held 16 "listening sessions" nationwide.

"We felt like it was very important to hear from everyone, which is what we did, whether it be emergency managers, governors, citizens, private sector nonprofit, faith-based organizations," Cooper said.

Trump appointed the committee after criticizing FEMA's reaction to Hurricane Helene in 2024, which caused billions of dollars in damage from coastal Florida to mountain communities in North Carolina and southwest Virginia that rarely see tropical storms. Trump suggested that the best fix might be to close the agency altogether.

The U.S. House has legislation that revamps the agency. That bill is waiting for the White House's input, which is waiting for the panel's draft report.