White House abruptly cancels FEMA Review Council meeting on agency overhaul plans

President Trump has called for FEMA to be shuttered.

Published: December 12, 2025 9:33am

The White House abruptly canceled the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council meeting Thursday in which members were going to vote on recommendations to overhaul the agency.

A White House official said the meeting was canceled because officials had not been fully briefed on the recommendations. 

Among the recommendations was to reduce FEMA's role in disaster response by cutting half of its workforce and creating a new block grant system designed to send aid to communities more quickly, according to a copy of a draft report obtained by CNN.

Another purported recommendation was to remove the agency from under the Department of Homeland Security, which DHS Secretary Krisiti Noem purportedly opposed. She is a co-chairperson of the review committee and was testifying on Captiol Hill at about the time the meeting was scheduled.  

The council is nearly a month behind in releasing its report, after Trump originally gave a 180-day deadline.

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