Overview

• The funding pause affects Emergency Management Performance Grants that support local staff, training, equipment and public outreach.
• States were directed to submit a September 30 population certification detailing methodology and excluding individuals removed under U.S. immigration laws, with funds released after FEMA approval.
• FEMA says recent population shifts driven by deportations require updated data and asserts the requirement applies to every state and is not tied to recent court rulings.
• The notices went out hours after a Rhode Island judge temporarily blocked the administration from redirecting similar FEMA grants away from about a dozen Democratic-led states.
• Emergency managers warn that the hold, new steps, shortened spending windows and the ongoing government shutdown could delay critical preparedness work.