Trump officials discuss making it much harder to qualify for federal disaster assistance, starting this hurricane season

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Source: CNN

Trump officials discuss making it much harder to qualify for federal disaster assistance, starting this hurricane season

By Gabe Cohen and Ella Nilsen, CNN
7 minute read
Published 5:00 AM EDT, Fri April 25, 2025

(CNN) — Trump emergency management officials are discussing reforms that would make it much harder for communities to qualify for federal disaster assistance, honoring President Donald Trump’s executive order to shift more responsibility for disaster response and recovery to states rather than the federal government.

A memo from acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton, a Trump appointee, obtained by CNN, outlines a long list of recommendations for Trump to follow that could drastically reduce the number of emergency declarations the president approves and the amount of federal assistance doled out to cities and states hit by natural disasters.

Such a change ahead of what are typically the worst months for natural disasters across the US could pose significant problems for states that are unprepared to foot the bill and for the millions of Americans impacted by disasters every year.

Most notably, the memo, sent to an official with the White House Office of Management and Budget, proposes dramatically raising the threshold for states to qualify for public assistance, effectively quadrupling the amount of damage a community must suffer in order to receive federal aid.

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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/25/politics/fema-aid-disaster-assistance-memo/index.html