WH Abruptly Cancels Meeting On FEMA's Future After Leaked Report Showed Plans To Gut The Agency

[hatrack]

EDIT

The final report of a committee tasked by President Donald Trump with reviewing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was scheduled to be presented and put to a vote Thursday afternoon. But shortly before 1 p.m., when the FEMA Review Council was scheduled to convene in Washington, a draft of the report was leaked to news outlets and the White House abruptly canceled the session.

The shakeup appeared to surprise even some of the review council’s own members, several of whom were still awaiting instructions outside the meeting’s planned location less than an hour before it was supposed to start, The Washington Post reported. Registered attendees only received notice of the meeting’s postponement after the event was scheduled to conclude. That announcement, a two-sentence email from the council’s designated federal officer, Patrick Ryan Powers, did not provide an explanation for the cancellation or a date for a rescheduled meeting.

EDIT

The Washington Post reported that senior administration officials were displeased with the document’s abstract plan to restructure FEMA, prescribing huge cuts without providing specifics. “It is time to close the chapter on FEMA,” the leaked report states, according to CNN, which reported that the draft calls for the most sweeping transformation of FEMA since its creation nearly five decades ago, including cutting half of the agency’s staff. Earlier drafts of the report were reported to have been substantially longer, before revisions, led by Noem, removed many of the council’s recommendations.

EDIT

While Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in axing FEMA altogether, the report apparently stops short of recommending the agency’s elimination. Instead, it frames the overhaul as a way to reduce red tape and speed up aid delivery, repositioning FEMA as a leaner support organization that intervenes only in the most catastrophic events. “They’re saying they want the states to take over, but at the same time they’re taking away the resources states need to actually do that by canceling funding for disaster preparedness and halting grants for building resilient infrastructure,” Edwards said.

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11122025/white-house-cancels-fema-meeting-on-proposed-cuts/

[gab13by13]

1. More money going into Krasnov's sovereign wealth fund.

[Timeflyer]

2. For people hit by destructive natural disasters (FL, looking at you) FEMA was a life/sanity saving program.

These are the people who are one car-repair bill away from complete financial wipe-out. Yes, many voted for the Orange Asswipe. But to have them become homeless while giving billionaires tax-breaks is long-term crazy and destabilizes society.

[Raven123]

3. Let's hope this leaking ship sinks soon

After the shock of seeing how rapidly Trump’s authoritarian agenda has unfolded, I think the resistance has solidified (thanks No Kings for igniting the flame) and those with information are less intimidated

[murielm99]

4. Yay No Kings!