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community weblog

sauve qui peut

Politico: The Trump administration's disaster chief told state officials Tuesday they must increase their financial reserves and emergency capabilities to handle most disasters on their own, without federal help.
Previously, from Samantha Montano's Disasterology blog: State, territorial, tribal, and local governments would face a staggering increase in financial responsibility for emergency management. In cases where federal disaster funding will still be made available, decisions about who receives help, when, and how much would fall to state officials, including those with little disaster experience and minimal resources and capacity. The Council's recommendations would disproportionately harm smaller, poorer, and rural states and deepen discriminatory outcomes along class and racial lines. The FEMA Review Council provides no evidence that their recommendations would create a more effective, efficient, and equitable emergency management system.
posted by mittens on Oct 21, 2026 at 8:51 AM

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Yeah, that's a great idea...

Christ, what an asshole.

Probably will hurt southern states where all the hurricanes show up more than blue states, but. Leopards and all.
Will likely lead to the President being able to lean on things more, which is what he wants.

Come on midterms...
posted by Windopaene at 9:02 AM

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"FEMA tells states to handle disasters on their own" could have been a Bush-era Onion headline. Now it's Politico. I hate this timeline.

(Apparently The Onion actually did run "Bush Urges [Hurricane Katrina] Victims To Gnaw On Bootstraps For Sustenance" in 2005)
posted by Garm at 9:11 AM

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The FEMA Review Council provides no evidence that their recommendations would create a more effective, efficient, and equitable emergency management system.

Soooo, mission accomplished?
posted by chasles at 9:11 AM

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So "of the people, by the people, for the people" is out?

Damn, I miss when government existed to provides services, at scale, that individuals and small communities could not do on their own -- before all the statues and gold leaf and crypto nonsense.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:14 AM

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If I am reading this right, this would seem to fall into the unfortunate category of Terrible, Awful, Immoral, Destructive Things That Are Actually Within His Power.

The president holds sole, non-appealable discretion to approve or deny a Major Disaster or Emergency declaration.

All he has to do is just say no with some different excuse each time and he can effectively shut down FEMA assistance for states.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:14 AM

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Up here in Canada we don't have FEMA — we just send in the army and the federal government and affected provincial governments just argue over who pays for what.

At no point have I ever heard any mention from federal officials that provinces are in their own.
posted by grmpyprogrammer at 9:17 AM

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Here in Canada we have Public Safety Canada, that does a lot of this coordination. The difference is that responses are typically lead by Provinces, with the fed in a supporting role, with a few exceptions. PS mostly helps train and coordinate. One of their more visible roles is helping schedule firefighters and airplanes from other provinces and countries for forest fires. Again, in support of and at the direction of the provinces. PS doesn't take over responses the way FEMA can in the US.

The feds do have primary responders (CCG is a major one) and do deal with issues at sea, that cross borders, that affect indigenous lands and in the north.

The policy explaining it all is the FERP, the Federal Emergency Response Plan

/25+ years as a federal Canadian responder.
posted by bonehead at 9:29 AM

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If this were being done in good faith, I'd say that the US could shift to a more State-lead role and be successful at it--Canada does an OK job that way---but we all know that this is really being done to cut FEMA and pay for tax xuts.
posted by bonehead at 9:32 AM

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I mean, theoretically, he can't really shut down FEMA funds for states without congressional approval, because while he can say no to any individual request, if he says no to all of them, they can/will sue.

That said, if you think, "But we can sue him!" is gonna do anything beyond temporarily cause him an inconvenience, let me welcome you out of your coma and offer to take you out for coffee to recap the last few years for you.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:34 AM

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The part of me that is dead inside and enjoys a good FAFO is delighting in thinking of all of the MAGA people who have moved to Florida and Texas the last few years.

But then I think about all of the folks who didn't have a choice but to live there who will also be screwed and the fun dies out quickly.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:36 AM

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I want to avoid thinking about these people too much, but I do wonder what diehard Trump supporters who aren't just in favor of More Death Now think when they hear about policies like this. I know "the cruelty is the point" but when the object of that cruelty is oneself, doesn't it cause one to have second thoughts?
posted by jy4m at 9:36 AM

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@bonehead I appreciate being corrected and didn't know about Public Safety Canada.
posted by grmpyprogrammer at 9:38 AM

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Trump told states were on their own to acquire resources during Covid. Then Trump literally stole those resources.

And nobody fucking did anything about it. Not Biden. Not Congressional Democrats. Heinous, unprecedented crimes committed in broad daylight during a national emergency AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO EVEN INVESTIGATE THEM because they were too fucking busy making sure we all returned to the office.

And now this behavior is going to be the new normal.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:39 AM

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If this were being done in good faith, I'd say that the US could shift to a more State-lead role

Hmm. In theory, isn't "increased states' rights" something that the GOP claims to support?.... Funny that they didn't seem to take this particular angle into consideration but hey.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:44 AM

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1. What's the point of a federal branch if each state has to do everything.
2. Sure he can not declare an emergency but the SCOTUS (ha!) should crack down on this 'Congress lawfully allocated money it wants to spend but I'm not going to spend it.' BS.
3. 98% chance he or his toadies keep a tally of who has paid bribes, and those states get some FEMA. it's never gonna be NY, or CA.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:49 AM

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There's little equality in the state-by-state approach without a federal backstop. From my own experience, dealing with say Louisiana and dealing with California are radically different experiences. Louisiana leaned on outside and federal help very strongly, particularly at first, but California was like dealing with a peer. They were grateful for our help but we were plugging into their system rather than setting up our system for Louisiana. Even in a comparatively well-resourced state like Michigan, the larger incident there I helped with was dealing with the federal responsible agency with the state people very much as junior partners.

I never know what I'm walking into in the first few days of a response. ICS has made that a lot easier (a state of California invention), but the resources available can vary widely by jurisdiction.
posted by bonehead at 9:59 AM

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"FEMA tells states to handle disasters on their own" could have been a Bush-era Onion headline. Now it's Politico. I hate this timeline.

(Apparently The Onion actually did run "Bush Urges [Hurricane Katrina] Victims To Gnaw On Bootstraps For Sustenance" in 2005)

Trump to Country: Drop Dead
posted by TedW at 10:30 AM

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This is about much more than just hurricanes. We need FEMA and federally funded aid because there are states that are vulnerable to events that happen much less frequently but very severely.

What if New Madrid decided to get funky?

Here in California, where we obviously have earthquake risk too, we are prepared, and generally a state with a lot of money. We could build a CEMA if we needed.

But what about Washington and Oregon? If the CSZ goes they are far less prepared, although they are working on it, but they don't have the level of financial resources CA does.

Those are just some example.

What about the next Sandy?

WA, OR, CA, NJ, NY all states 47 would be more than happy to let hang.

This is in no way meant to be inclusive or comprehensive, just examples of more bad stuff that people will absolutely need help with. And now we know we don't have it.
posted by supermedusa at 10:41 AM

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When George Bush took that infamous flight over New Orleans after hurricane Katrina viewing the desperate residents on top of roofs and summarily flew back to DC (or wherever) . From than on I knew than we are all on our own
posted by robbyrobs at 10:59 AM

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"And now we know we don't have it."

we've basically known this since Covid when Trump and the Republicans played politics with masks and vaccines and other supplies while NYC was swamped with cases. that was the moment the states were on their own (and as pointed out above... that didn't stop the feds from confiscating and redirecting supplies that states did wrangle on their own).

my rage at the people who voted for and continue to vote for the destruction of the country will never go away.
posted by kokaku at 11:25 AM

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Reste qui veut!
posted by bluefrog at 11:30 AM

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I don't think anyone's mentioned this yet, but this sounds like make-work for various first responders, especially cops.

Now the police can go to local and state officials and insist on a bigger budget, since FEMA has threatened to not help.

Could also just be the work of anti-fed ideologues who want to shut it all down, or a true believer conspiracy nut who think they're stopping the notorious "FEMA camps."
posted by Hume at 11:30 AM

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guillotines, oooohh-oooooo, guillotines.....l
posted by Silvery Fish at 11:50 AM

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What's the point of a federal branch if each state has to do everything.

that's vought's explicit plan.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:54 AM

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I'm sure it's in Project 2025 somewhere around page 650 or so. That would be why it's taken them so long to get around to it.

One wonders how this impacts insurance policies and etc, but I'm fairly certain the end answer will be "We pay out in rich neighborhoods, everyone else can die fast or die slow, we don't care."
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 11:54 AM

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George W's mother was heard to say,
Underprivileged anyway so this is working very well for them.
posted by hortense at 12:31 PM

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I'm sure it's in Project 2025 somewhere around page 650 or so.

Page 153.

Reform of FEMA requires a greater emphasis on federalism and state and local preparedness
...
Congress should change the cost-share arrangement so that the federal government covers 25 percent of the costs for small disasters with the cost share reaching a maximum of 75 percent for truly catastrophic disasters.
...
FEMA manages all grants for DHS, and these grants have become pork for states, localities, and special-interest groups.


The Project 2025 FEMA plans hit the mainstream media in 2024 -
Newsweek
MSNBC
even the Savannah Tribune
posted by kristi at 12:31 PM

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I think what Vought et al are failing to understand is why, for example, Nixon (GOP) enacted the EPA:

It's because otherwise, states do it on their own, at a much higher premium to the capital interests. An example of this would be Prop 40 in California. Essentially, the smarter neoliberals understood that a federal agency was a backstop against high levels of state regulation and taxation.

But the modern chuds of the GOP are so intoxicated with their laffer curve ideology that they fail to get this.

Anyways, millions will suffer and die, blah blah blah, leopards will need cardiology from all the faces they've eaten. Meanwhile my county is currently without an office of emergency management as we face one of the wettest winters in our history. Fun times.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 1:23 PM

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Of course this is being done in bad faith for bad reasons - but it's so strange to me to do it like this when it could very easily be couched in more constructive terms:

Fund a five year plan to build up state disaster response, using FEMA funds proactively for stockpiles, coordination systems, etc with the understanding that states would assume progressively greater responsibility for immediate response over the coming decade. Wisdom aside, that's a sane policy proposal that we could meaningfully debate as a union.

That's how you know this is not about disaster preparedness at all, but about selective punishment via the purse strings, while the money is redirected to assorted grifters.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:33 PM

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Look, we all know if a federal program isnt set up to benefit the oligarchs, then it should be killed. That's just good business.
posted by WatTylerJr at 1:45 PM

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I do wonder what diehard Trump supporters who aren't just in favor of More Death Now think when they hear about policies like this

NYT via MSN
"I voted for him, and he's the one who's doing this," she said of Mr. Trump. "I thought he was going to do good things. He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting."
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 1:57 PM

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ICS has made that a lot easier

Thank you for saying so! I'm always happy to help.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 2:31 PM

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Quick question: why are we paying taxes?
posted by nushustu at 2:36 PM

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LeRoienJaune: "Essentially, the smarter neoliberals understood that a federal agency was a backstop against high levels of state regulation and taxation. "

If Nixon had the SCOTUS Trump has the EPA would have never happened, the states would just be told nope, no can do.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 2:42 PM

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Trump told states were on their own to acquire resources during Covid. Then Trump literally stole those resources.


Right. Libs on Metafilter are dignifying this as some kind of policy move, you guys.
this is naked theft. And rather than explain the economics of racism again, i will just repeat this quote again

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
― Lyndon B. Johnson

and link to this book and video, which is all about the trillion different ways lose-lose happens in the USA

The Sum of Us
What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
By Heather McGhee
posted by eustatic at 3:18 PM

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> Quick question: why are we paying taxes?

Federal taxes? To reduce the amount of money in circulation and control inflation.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 4:06 PM

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i thought we were paying taxes to bomb the crap out of people or pay other people to do it for us
posted by pyramid termite at 4:55 PM

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I mean that'll happen with or without the tax money, tbh
posted by vibratory manner of working at 5:14 PM

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Quick question: why are we paying taxes?
posted by nushustu at 2:36 PM on October 21

because common property and the commonwealth turn every dollar into ten, that is how an economy works

the Sum of Us economists upthread estimate that racist policies, by demobilizing public spending, takes Trillions out of the economy over 20 years (16 trillion over 20 years)

if only we had public land ownership, instead of plantations, in the USA, we could be a developed country

by looting the FEMA funding, every dollar they take robs us of ten; FEMA cost benefit ratios (which the demon Reagan forced upon govt spending) are often 6:1 or 8:1
posted by eustatic at 5:46 PM

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Is anyone here really surprised? Fuck me, it gets worse every fucking day.
French style revolution anyone?
posted by evilDoug at 10:20 PM

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> 98% chance he or his toadies keep a tally of who has paid bribes, and those states get some FEMA

This. It's just a way to use the power of the government to create discretionary leverage to be used to extract personal or political concessions.
posted by anthill at 9:00 AM

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