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President Donald Trump has called for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to be abolished, saying that states should manage disaster response independently for greater efficiency and cost savings.
He accused FEMA of mismanaging disaster relief funds, disobeying orders, and favoring Democratic-led areas.
“FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders, but left the people of North Carolina high and dry,” Trump said in a Feb. 11 post on social media, adding that the agency under the previous administration was a “disaster” and “should be terminated.”
The agency has faced mounting scrutiny from Republicans over its handling of recent disasters, including hurricanes Helene and Milton, which struck the southeast United States in 2024.
FEMA has also been accused of political bias, with a former worker alleging that during relief efforts, staff were directed to avoid homes displaying Trump signs. Additionally, the agency has been criticized for allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to fund plane tickets for illegal immigrants, further fueling Republican concerns over its priorities and effectiveness.
Trump said on Jan. 24 that he might reform or abolish the agency over alleged inefficiencies, bias, and misuse of funds.
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He then signed an executive order establishing a council to carry out a “full-scale review” of FEMA. The order alleged that the agency had “lost mission focus, diverting limited staff and resources to support missions beyond its scope and authority, spending well over a billion dollars to welcome illegal aliens.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on Feb. 10 that the U.S. government should “get rid” of the agency “the way it exists today.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) oversees FEMA. Noem said on Feb. 9 that disaster relief funding should remain in place but that local officials, not FEMA, should control deployment for a faster and more efficient response.
“We still need the resources and the funds and the finances to go to people that have these types of disasters, like Hurricane Helene and the fires in California,” Noem told CNN on Feb. 9. “But you need to let the local officials make the decisions on how that is deployed so it can be deployed much quicker.”
FEMA did not respond by publication time to a request for comment on Trump’s call for the agency to be abolished.
A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that some FEMA employees lacked proper certification or authorization to oversee disaster-related contracts, violating FEMA and DHS policies.
A review of 15 contracts across three disasters (floods in Kentucky, Hurricane Ian, and wildfires in Maui) revealed that eight had oversight issues, including unqualified FEMA housing specialists assessing contractor performance.
The GAO warned that using unqualified personnel increases the risk of inadequate contract oversight and failure to ensure that goods and services align with agreements. The report also found that FEMA failed to properly document contractor performance, making it difficult to verify service quality.
The report put forward seven recommendations, including urging FEMA to ensure that oversight staff are properly certified and to improve documentation.
DHS agreed with all recommendations, pledging corrective action.
