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

[Eugene]

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

[Irish_Dem]

1. State taxes will have to be raised to cover the lack of federal funding.

Or Americans will have to make do with considerably less services.

[Scrivener7]

2. States need to find a way to divert some of the Federal taxes to the states.

We're not getting the services, why should we pay for them?

[Irish_Dem]

4. Exactly. We paid for a level of services we no longer receive.

Where is all the money going that we are saving due to DOGE?

[Scrivener7]

5. Well ... apparently there was NO savings because we're spending more now than in previous years.

[Irish_Dem]

6. Yep. Trump spending more money on scams and grifts going into his pocket.

[Blues Heron]

3. that should go over well, not

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. Discussing?

They've already denied help to Arkansas, North Carolina and Washington State for storms this year.