GAO warns of uneven capacity as FEMA responsibility faces review
A national debate over FEMA is moving toward a practical question: can states and localities absorb more responsibility for disaster preparedness, response and recovery when their capabilities vary widely?
The question has gained urgency as the Trump administration’s FEMA Review Council has proposed changes that could give states, tribes and territories a larger role in deciding how disaster aid is triggered, distributed and administered. The proposals are not final policy. The Associated Press reported that many of the major changes would require congressional action.
A December 18, 2025 report from the Government Accountability Office provides an evidence base for the 2026 debate. GAO found that state and local response capabilities differ substantially. Rural and less-resourced jurisdictions can face staffing, planning and administrative challenges even when they are located within otherwise well-resourced states.
What GAO says any shift would require
GAO identified three conditions policymakers should address before changing disaster-response responsibilities.
First, governments need clear and consistent communication about new roles, eligibility rules, technical assistance and training. Second, states and localities need enough time to prepare before responsibilities change. Third, federal support must remain available for catastrophic or widespread disasters, including events that overwhelm even well-equipped states.
Those findings do not rule out a more state-led system. They show why a uniform transfer of responsibility could produce uneven results. A state may have strong emergency-management resources overall while still relying on federal help, mutual aid or outside contractors in rural areas and smaller jurisdictions.
Why FEMA remains central
FEMA remains the lead federal agency for coordinating disaster response. Its role includes assigning other federal agencies to carry out response tasks under its statutory authorities. GAO cited coordination with the Army Corps of Engineers on debris removal and emergency repairs, and with the Environmental Protection Agency on hazardous materials and contaminated-water work.
That coordinating function matters when several disasters occur at once. It also matters during disasters that cross state lines or require federal personnel, equipment and funding beyond a state’s capacity.
The workforce problem
FEMA’s own readiness has also been under strain. In a report published September 2, 2025, GAO said only 4% of FEMA’s incident-management workforce was available to deploy as of November 1, 2024, after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The figure referred to that specific workforce and date; it was not a measure of all FEMA employees.
GAO also reported that active FEMA employment fell from about 25,800 on January 1, 2025, to about 23,350 on June 1, 2025. FEMA reported that 24 Senior Executive Service employees departed during that period, and agency officials told GAO that the loss of experienced personnel created leadership skills gaps.
More recent staffing actions show that the agency is still trying to stabilize. The Associated Press reported that 14 FEMA employees who had signed a public dissent letter were reinstated after eight months on paid administrative leave. AP also reported that FEMA planned to extend some term-limited employees’ contracts, including workers in the agency’s roughly 10,000-person CORE workforce. Those steps may improve capacity, but they do not erase the readiness concerns GAO identified.
What the council proposed
As AP reported, the Review Council proposed replacing the current approach for deciding when states, tribes and territories qualify for federal support with predefined disaster metrics. It also recommended direct state payments within 30 days of a disaster, potentially followed by another payment, instead of relying primarily on reimbursement after recovery work is completed.
For survivors, the proposals would limit some housing assistance to people whose homes are uninhabitable and offer a one-time payment instead of multiple channels for rental, repair and replacement assistance. FEMA would focus its survivor aid on emergency housing, while states could operate their own housing programs under federal standards.
The council also recommended shifting most flood-insurance policies away from the National Flood Insurance Program and toward private coverage. That recommendation concerns a separate but related policy question and remains a proposal rather than a change in federal law.
Faster payments could help governments begin recovery sooner. But shifting administrative and financial responsibility could expose states, local governments and survivors to greater risk if they lack staff, cash flow or grant-management capacity.
What is decided and what is not
The recommendations do not abolish FEMA or automatically transfer its statutory responsibilities. GAO said FEMA’s responsibilities had not changed as of its workforce-readiness report. Congress would have to act on many of the proposed changes, while the administration would need to issue implementation guidance for changes that fall within existing authority.
The next indicators will be congressional legislation, FEMA guidance, staffing and reservist levels, state preparedness investments and performance during the 2026 disaster season. The central issue will be whether reform makes aid faster without leaving the least-resourced communities with the largest gaps.
Sources
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