FEMA Act of 2025
The FEMA Act of 2025 would elevate the Federal Emergency Management Agency to a cabinet-level independent establishment and move its main functions out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bill creates a dedicated FEMA administration led by an Administrator (with a Deputy and Assistant Administrators) who reports to the President, and it establishes an Office of the Inspector General and a Federal Emergency Management Agency Working Capital Fund funded by fees for services. Over a one-year transition, most FEMA programs and authorities would transfer from DHS to the new agency, along with a broad, all-hazards approach to emergency management that integrates preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. The legislation also adds substantial reform packages across public assistance, individual assistance, mitigation, and transparency, plus a Veterans Advocate to improve veterans’ access to disaster relief. In short, the bill aims to centralize and strengthen the nation’s all-hazards emergency management system under a dedicated, cabinet-level FEMA, with reforms designed to speed and improve disaster assistance, increase accountability, and better protect vulnerable populations, including veterans, people with disabilities, and Tribes.
Key Points
- 1Establishment and leadership of FEMA as a cabinet-level independent agency, headed by an Administrator (with a Deputy and Assistant Administrators), reporting directly to the President.
- 2Transfer of FEMA functions from DHS to the new agency within one year, including authorities under major disaster and other disaster-related statutes, while preserving certain DHS programs during a transition via a memorandum of understanding.
- 3Creation of an Office of the Inspector General for FEMA to provide independent oversight.
- 4Establishment of a Federal Emergency Management Agency Working Capital Fund to finance operations, with fees charged for services and equipment provided to DHS, other federal entities, and external clients.
- 5Introduction of a Veterans Advocate within FEMA to ensure fair treatment of veterans, participate in disaster declaration processes, and improve veteran recruitment and coordination with veterans’ organizations.
- 6Division B reforms across four major areas:
- 7- Public Assistance Reforms: streamline recovery, set debris removal standards, speed funding, improve procurement, backlogs, and alignment of costs with modernized practices.
- 8- Individual Assistance Reforms: improve information sharing, standardize applications, clarify duplication of benefits, expand crisis counseling and housing/rental assistance, and enhance notices and guidance for disaster victims.
- 9- Mitigation Reforms: promote preapproved mitigation plans, strengthen hazard risk reduction, improve utility resiliency, and streamline the mitigation application process.
- 10- Transparency and Accountability: require GAO reviews, create online dashboards, address disaster fraud/identity theft, publish progress on declarations, and improve disaster workforce retention and cost-saving assessments.
- 11National emergency management reforms (Division A, Title II) that realign related responsibilities under FEMA, update regional offices, and modify certain Homeland Security Act provisions to reflect FEMA’s independent status.
- 12Protections for continuity and ongoing proceedings: saving provisions ensure existing orders, permits, contracts, and ongoing actions continue under the new structure during the transition.