The White House is approving disaster relief funds without notifying FEMA, leading to delays and confusion

CNN

2 days ago

In early April, President Donald Trump approved millions of dollars in assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Virginia, which was reeling from devastating winter storms and flooding. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, issued a news release touting the president's decision to sign his disaster declaration request, and local news outlets began reporting that funding would soon be flowing to the state.
But a key partner hadn't been notified: FEMA.
Leaders at the disaster relief agency, which is tasked with delivering that aid, were caught off guard when they eventually saw the smattering of headlines, FEMA officials told CNN, given such news would almost always come directly from the White House. It wasn't until at least four days later that official word reached FEMA – an alarming delay in an otherwise urgent process.
The breakdown in communication forced hard-hit Virginia communities to wait an extra week or so for critical assistance, agency officials said.
The sources said this reflects a troubling pattern in Trump's second term. It's among several concerns raised by current and former FEMA officials about the White House's approach to disaster relief as forecasters are already keeping a close eye on potential storms at the start of hurricane season.
Typically in presidential administrations, including Trump's first, FEMA advises the White House on which disasters warrant federal assistance. The president then either approves or denies the aid, and once he signs a state's disaster declaration FEMA is quickly notified so relief efforts can promptly begin. FEMA officials are usually responsible for notifying state leaders that help is on the way.
But amid mounting turmoil at the agency, communication and coordination between the Trump administration and FEMA leadership has dwindled, creating confusion and delays as federal emergency managers work to deliver assistance to impacted states.
'This is more than just who gets to tell who. There are regulatory timelines, especially for individual assistance, that are in play, and these delays do affect the delivery of assistance,' a longtime FEMA official, speaking anonymously out of fear of professional reprisals, told CNN. 'It is very frustrating to the state and local partners because they think we should be doing things, but without the paperwork we cannot execute on the declaration.'
In April, Trump denied a request from Arkansas for disaster assistance to help survivors recover from recent tornadoes and severe storms that pounded the region and killed more than 40 people.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas' Republican governor and Trump's former press secretary, appealed the president's decision, publicly lobbied him to reverse it and personally called him to make her case. Her campaign proved successful. On May 8, the president approved the FEMA aid.
But, again, FEMA did not get the memo. The agency was not notified by the White House of the approval until May 13 – five days later.
'A five-day lag is unheard of, as it prevents FEMA from fulfilling its statutory roles,' another longtime FEMA official told CNN. 'It feels like a way to make it look like FEMA is being slow when we're not yet authorized to act.'
In other recent cases, the White House notified the governors of several red states that assistance had been approved well before FEMA was notified, agency officials said.
In a response to CNN, a DHS spokesperson did not address the delays, but said the administration is approving disaster aid 'based on policy, not politics.'
'It's one thing for this to happen during these small disasters,' a third FEMA official said. 'What if there's a big one where we are waiting for the green light to mission assign partners to start response? There's a process for a reason, and if we are left in the dark people are going to suffer.'
Hurricane season is underway, and the Trump administration still won't say how it plans to determine what disasters will warrant federal assistance.
The White House has repeatedly stressed that the president has sole authority to approve or deny disaster declaration requests after catastrophic storms, telling FEMA that Trump does not have to follow the agency's recommendations and will not justify his decision when he denies a state's application for aid, according to multiple agency officials.
When a governor requests a disaster declaration, FEMA typically makes a recommendation to the president on whether to approve the request based on specific metrics that look at the damage, state population and direct impact to disaster survivors. In the past, the president has almost always followed FEMA's recommendations or worked with the agency to tweak them, several current and former top FEMA officials told CNN.
Trump broke with that tradition in April when he denied Washington state's request for additional aid as it recovers from a bomb cyclone last year, even though the state's $34 million in verified damages is more than double FEMA's commonly used threshold to qualify for federal help. Washington state has appealed the decision and is awaiting a response from the president.
But the White House has told the disaster relief agency that meeting FEMA's long-standing disaster thresholds does not guarantee Trump will approve a declaration and that the president is not required to provide reasons for such a denial.
CNN previously reported that the administration is discussing ways to make it much harder to qualify for federal disaster assistance starting this hurricane season, as it shifts far more responsibility for response and recovery onto the states. No formal changes have been announced.
Federal disaster declarations have risen steadily in recent years, as extreme weather becomes increasingly destructive and costly in a warming world.
In recent weeks, new acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson told staff that agency leadership was working on a new disaster response plan for hurricane season, which he said was nearly finished as of mid-May.
But during a briefing Monday, Richardson told agency personnel that the new plan will not be released. Instead, FEMA will revert to its 2024 response plan, agency officials said, though it's entering an above-average hurricane season understaffed and underprepared.
'The most critical currency during response is time. You never get it back, and we just wasted a whole boatload of it on this goose chase,' a FEMA official told CNN.
Richardson – a former Marine combat veteran and martial-arts instructor with no prior experience managing natural disasters – previously rescinded FEMA's 2022-2026 strategic plan, saying in a memo that it 'contains goals and objectives that bear no connection to FEMA accomplishing its mission.'
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, told lawmakers in mid-May that 'there is no formalized, final plan' for disaster response this summer but insisted the administration will be prepared.
'FEMA is full-steam ahead with an effective and focused plan to respond to hurricane season, while empowering states to further lead their own disaster response,' a DHS spokesperson told CNN in a statement Tuesday. 'There is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season.'
But the lack of a concrete plan has left some FEMA leaders worried the agency is not prepared to execute such an opaque mission.
FEMA's future remains uncertain as Noem continues to insist the administration will eliminate the agency as it exists today, but a mass exodus of longtime leaders and key personnel is already well underway.
Late last month, FEMA's acting deputy administrator, MaryAnn Tierney – a widely respected veteran leader serving as the agency's second-in-command – resigned, telling her staff that actions by the Trump administration had prompted her departure.
'Everyone has a line, and I have reached mine,' Tierney told her team in an email. 'I will not be complicit in the dismantling of this Agency and while I would readily implement change, even radical change, the current approach lacks a clear end state or plan and has been done recklessly without regard to our current statutory or moral obligations to the American people. I also will not be a part of the intentional traumatization of our workforce. Based on my role, seniority, and place in the Agency my presence enables this.'
In place of longtime officials like Tierney, the Department of Homeland Security has installed more than half a dozen DHS officials into key front-office roles to effectively run the disaster relief agency, sources told CNN.
Workforce morale has plummeted since Trump took office, according to more than a dozen FEMA officials who spoke to CNN. Staff have endured public attacks from administration officials, mandatory lie detector tests to identify media leaks, and threats of further job cuts.
During a briefing this week, Richardson told agency staff he was previously unaware that the US has a hurricane season. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that the remark was a joke and that 'FEMA is taking this seriously.' Some at the agency, however, worry Richardson's comment reflects a lack of knowledge among FEMA's new leadership with hurricane season underway.
It's not the first time Richardson's comments have landed poorly with agency staff. In an all-hands meeting on his first day, Richardson said he will 'run right over' anyone who tries to prevent him from carrying out the president's mission.
'FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and don't forget that,' Richardson told the agency. 'I, and I alone, speak for FEMA. I am the president's representative at FEMA, and I am here to carry out President Trump's intent.'