A consequential deadline arrives this week for the Trump administration's review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, placing immediate pressure on newly installed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The Oklahoma Republican, confirmed by the Senate Monday evening, will inherit a set of potentially transformative recommendations that could reshape how America responds to disasters.
President Trump established the FEMA Review Council last year via executive order, tasking it with proposing reforms to the agency. The council, led by former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was scheduled to unveil its findings in December, but that meeting was abruptly canceled. A draft final report dated December 11, obtained and reviewed by The Hill, reveals the scale of changes under consideration at that time.
Proposed Overhaul Targets Staff and Spending
The draft document outlines a sweeping restructuring, headlined by a proposal to "reduce overall staffing by approximately 50%." The cuts would focus heavily on FEMA's disaster workforce—the temporary, on-call, and permanent personnel deployed to disaster zones. The report argues this would create "a more strategic, less personnel-intensive response," reserving federal intervention for only the largest catastrophes. It also calls for a review to "realign or reduce" Senior Executive Service officials, the agency's top-tier civil servants.
Paradoxically, while advocating deep cuts, the report acknowledges that "operational challenges such … staffing shortages have hindered FEMA's effectiveness." The council also proposed adjusting the economic metrics FEMA uses to declare a disaster, indexing them for inflation. This technical change would have a significant practical impact: the report estimates that 29% of disasters declared between 2012 and 2025 would not have qualified under the new standard, preventing an average of 16 declarations annually and saving roughly $113 million per year.
Shifting Costs and Privatizing Insurance
Beyond staffing, the recommendations aim to shift financial burdens away from the federal government. The draft calls for reducing the federal share of temporary housing assistance costs from 100% to 75%. It also seeks to lower the federal cost share for public assistance—funding for rebuilding public infrastructure—from a minimum of 75% down to a range between 50% and 75%.
A major pillar of the plan involves moving the National Flood Insurance Program toward the private market. The report advocates "incentivizing the launch of a 'take-out program' to transfer policies to the private market," a shift that could alter coverage and pricing for millions of homeowners in flood-prone areas. Despite the proposed cuts and changes, the report recommends the reformed agency, dubbed "FEMA 2.0," remain within the Department of Homeland Security.
The report's delay has sparked criticism from congressional Democrats. During a recent hearing, Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) displayed what he said was a copy of the document, accusing the administration of cutting input from governors and emergency management experts. "It’s sitting in the White House trying to figure out … this mess that you created," Moskowitz told then-Secretary Noem.
FEMA has stated the recommendations will be made public once approved at a future meeting but has not set a date. The agency directed inquiries to the White House, which did not respond to requests for comment. However, reports indicate some staff reductions are already occurring within FEMA's on-call response teams.
At his confirmation hearing, Mullin offered no clear position on FEMA's staffing levels. When asked by Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.) if the agency had too many employees, Mullin replied, "I can’t answer that. When I get there, we’ll be adequately staffed to respond to our nation’s disasters." He added, without specifying FEMA, that federal agencies are generally "bloated." His approach to the council's proposals—whether he will enact, modify, or shelve them—now becomes a central question for disaster preparedness policy, even as the administration grapples with other security challenges, including ongoing tensions with Iran.
