Oversight Hearing – The Federal Emergency Management Agency
House Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security
2025-05-07
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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
Okay. . We've got a few guys in Congress now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you served on the same team for two years. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. YOU AGAIN. YOU AGAIN. WE'RE JUST, WE'RE ON THE CIRCUIT. THAT'S RIGHT. I'VE JUST BEEN MAKING YOUR DAY ALL DAY. ALL DAY. I APPRECIATED HAVING FARMERS ON THE DIAS. YEAH, THAT WAS GOOD.
I AM PLEASED TO BE JOINED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE'S DISTINGUISHED RANKING MEMBER, THE GENTLELADY FROM ILLINOIS, MS. UNDERWOOD. WELCOME, MR. ACTING ADMINISTRATOR HAMILTON. I THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. WHILE WE AWAIT THE DETAILS OF THE FULL FISCAL YEAR 2026 BUDGET REQUEST, The focus of the hearing will be on FEMA's priorities, a deeper dive into the $646 million in cuts to grants, and the $26.5 billion request for the disaster relief fund mentioned in the skinny budget. I guess it will be no secret to anybody who's been to a couple of these meetings that I'm still waiting for anybody on the committee to ask that I do an opening statement. And since we haven't had that request, I am going to now defer to my distinguished ranking member, Ms. Underwood, for your opening statement.
Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing to conduct oversight and discuss the fiscal year 2026 budget priorities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I'd also like to welcome Mr. Hamilton, the senior official performing the duties of the FEMA administrator, to his first hearing before our subcommittee. Thank you for meeting with me yesterday ahead of today's hearing. First and foremost, I'd like to thank the dedicated FEMA workforce, as well as emergency managers across the country who help our communities and constituents before, during, and after disasters. Last year, there was a major disaster declaration every four days, affecting over 40% of Americans. The data's clear. Disasters and extreme weather are getting worse and will continue to do so, driven by climate change. from hurricanes Beryl, Debbie, Francine, Helene, and Milton in the 2024 season to the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires in Los Angeles that my colleagues and I visited in January. Disasters are getting bigger, more frequent, and more expensive. But the bare bones budget for fiscal year 2026 released last week proposes a $646 million cut from fiscal year 2025 levels to FEMA's initiatives that support state and local governments. I'm concerned that this would cut critical grant programs that firefighters, first responders, and hospitals in rural communities like mine rely on. I'm also concerned that this would cut resources for houses of worship and faith-based organizations, including non-profit security grants and the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium. Your budget suggests that it provides duplicative efforts of existing federal and state programs without evidence. Similarly, your termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC, program in early April rips away desperately needed and life-saving resources that communities need to protect themselves from future disasters. This short-sighted approach would raise recovery costs for taxpayers and local communities while leaving our constituents less protected.
On the topic of disaster recovery costs, the Disaster Relief Fund or DRF is on the brink of depletion and is expected to run a deficit of about $9 billion in fiscal year 2025. That's before assuming any costs associated with future disasters that may occur this year. Hurricane season begins in 25 days.
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