Overview

• FEMA would eliminate funding for over half of its emergency management and homeland security grant streams, including the $550 million Urban Areas Security Initiative for major cities.
• Internal memos signed by Acting Administrator David Richardson and approved by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem caution that slashing these programs contradicts security goals and raises risks of catastrophic incidents.
• The agency has halted selections of new grant recipients and fallen over two months behind on issuing Notices of Funding Opportunities, jeopardizing the timely allocation of this year’s disaster funds.
• Twenty states have sued to block the earlier rescission of $750 million from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, arguing the move is illegal and stalls critical flood resilience projects.
• The Department of Homeland Security frames the cuts as targeting wasteful grants, but experts warn they may breach congressional mandates and deepen inequities in emergency response.