Nothing is official yet, since congress hasn’t passed legislation making it so, but soon after President Trump took office January 2025, he expressed a desire to shift the burden of disaster relief and hazard mitigation and preparedness to local governments.
Trump, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem echoing his wishes, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should be eliminated. https://news.rice.edu/news/2025/president-trump-announces-fema-phase-out-plan
He issued an executive order in January 2025 that formed the FEMA Review Council, which issued its final report May 2026, which does not recommend getting rid of the agency, but shifts the burden increasingly to local governments over a two-to-three-year transition period.
Since Trump took office, informal changes took place while congress and local governments awaited the Council’s final report.
According to an article by the Bipartisan Policy Center, which came out shortly after the Council’s final report, https://bipartisanpolicy.org/issue-brief/fema-reform-comparing-the-review-councils-recommendations-and-congressional-proposals/
–14 percent or about 2,000 FEMA staff have been fired or left since January 2025.
–There was an historic 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
–Kristi Noem was replaced by Markwayne Mullin in March 2026.
–April 30, 2026 congress passed limited DHS funding that replenished the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund by $26.4 billion, but $50 billion has been the yearly FEMA expenditure in years past .
–Mullin stopped further staff reductions, but estimated it would take many months to clear the “backlog” of 30,000 projects and 600 open disaster declarations currently under FEMA’s administration.
–The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed H.R. 4669 in September 2025 that passed 57-3 in a bipartisan vote that laid out how FEMA would work, but didn’t move forward since congress didn’t want to interfere with the Council’s final report.
–Trump’s FEMA Review Council published its final report May 7, 2026.
–The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued an assessment of FEMA rating its programs at “high risk” for fraud and abuse.
–FEMA issued a “rebalancing” memorandum in April 2025 that would quadruple what disaster damage local governments would have to pay for before federal funding would start.
–Since FEMA issued the rebalancing memo, it has become miserly in declaring major disasters, which trigger the release of funding.
–Hazard mitigation and preparedness funding have also slowed and been reduced.
This shift from Federal to local responsibility for mitigating, preparing for and relieving disaster came while Sierra County was preparing its new Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP), which took two years because of delayed FEMA funding and cost $96,000.
Sierra County, Truth or Consequences, Elephant Butte and Williamsburg supported the grant application for a new HMP, which Sierra County Emergency Services Administrator Ryan Williams presented at the T or C city commission meeting on June 10.
It was included in the city packet and runs from page 420 to 870: https://cms5.revize.com/revize/truthconsequencesnew/6-10-26%20CC%20Agenda%20Packet.pdf?t=202606091540400&t=202606091540400
The HMP was drafted by H2O Partners, Inc., of Austin Texas. It will replace the 2019 plan, which identified six hazards, while this one identifies 16 hazards. If it’s not identified, FEMA funds will not be forthcoming, even at a reduced level. Williams said a new hazard mitigation plan needs to be done every five years in order to get FEMA funding, which plan is so expensive it needs FEMA funding.
But at least two more years of planning and action and projects are needed to prepare for the potential disasters identified. The “action” plan starts on page 730. Funding for this work is needed, and it is unclear where it might come from, given the state of FEMA and split in congress’ views toward DHS.
If disaster hits, Williams said “the burden is on local government,” and “we’re on our own.”
This latest Hazard Mitigation Plan and draft of an action plan is timely. It sets out what local governments need to do to get ready for disaster, which is far greater planning, if not actual preparedness, than many counties have on the books.