"The payments to states drain a large share of FEMA’s budget reserves, raising questions about the agency’s ability to respond to disasters."

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency released more than $5 billion in disaster recovery money — shortly after the Trump administration said it was halting such funding.

“This week, FEMA released over $5 billion in recovery funding for projects, some of which date back to disasters that happened more than 15 years ago,” a FEMA spokesperson told POLITICO.

Four days earlier, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees the agency, announced that FEMA funding “will not move forward for ongoing or legacy disasters.”"

Thomas Frank and Jennifer Scholtes report for E&E News February 27, 2026. [2]