‘Closing the chapter’ on Fema: Trump panel seeks to weaken disaster response amid climate crisis

Council’s plan will leave Federal Emergency Management Agency ill-equipped to respond to extreme weather events, experts say Sweeping changes may be in store at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), the nation’s frontline emergency response coordinator, that experts warned could further erode US capacity to handle disasters as the risks of extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis continue to rise. Fears about a fundamental overhaul of Fema’s form and function have been brewing since Donald Trump returned to the White House. After castigating the agency over claims that it was too expensive and “doesn’t get the job done”, Trump set to gutting Fema as an early priority for his second term. A long-awaited proposal on the agency’s future, released this week by a council appointed by Trump, doubled down on the president’s calls to claw back federal spending on disasters and push responsibility on to states and local governments. “It is time to close the chapter on Fema,” the 12-member “Fema Review Council” wrote in its final report, which was quickly ushered to the president’s desk after a public presentation on Thursday. The recommendations, they