If Trump gets rid of FEMA, where would money come from to clean up Kentucky floods?
Gov. Andy Beshear heaped praise on the Trump administration for its swift and rapid disaster declaration in response to the deadly flooding in Eastern Kentucky little more than a week ago.
But if President Trump gets his organizational overhaul of the federal government, FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Agency – won’t be around with a pot of cash to dole out to help alleviate the hardship.
“I like, frankly, the concept that when North Carolina gets hit, the governor takes care of it, when Florida gets hit, the governor takes care of it. Meaning the state takes care of it … I’d like to see the states take care of disasters,” Trump said last month when touring hurricane damage in North Carolina.
The president’s desire to eliminate the $30 billion agency is taking on new resonance in the commonwealth as thousands recover from severe flooding that led to widespread power outages, water supply disruptions, home displacements and damage to an estimated 8,000 homes and businesses.
Beshear has repeatedly defended the value of the beleaguered agency he’s come to lean on as a governor besieged by natural disasters.
The governor described Trump’s idea of scrapping FEMA as a “very bad” one, emphasizing that while governors lead disaster responses, FEMA provides essential resources, expertise and administrative support that states rely on during natural disasters.
“I’ve been outspoken on the need for FEMA to continue and to be funded and the idea that if FEMA was gone every state would have to process the applications for individual assistance and public assistance,” Beshear told CNN last week.
“Are there some parts that the states could probably do better? Sure. But we need a partner in FEMA; we need it to be fixed, not broken.”
Beshear said FEMA’s surge of resources during the initial search and rescue phase of a disaster remains critical.
“Where we need to see change is on the individual assistance side, especially how FEMA communicates with individuals who need help, but that can and should be fixed,” Beshear told CBS.
Trump has provided few details on what role the federal government would play in the event FEMA was scrapped. Though on Thursday, the New York Times reported that his administration planned to cut a Department of Housing and Urban Development office that assists with disaster recovery by 84%.
Trump also signed an executive order to establish a 20-member council tasked with reviewing FEMA’s effectiveness and exploring reforms or potential elimination. The council will compare FEMA’s disaster responses with state-led efforts and is expected to release recommendations later this year.
But Chris Edwards, the Kilts Family chair in Fiscal Studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, already has a clear-eyed response to the impact. Each state would be responsible for their own disaster recovery, except in the case of large scale disasters that require the U.S. military.
“FEMA just mainly gives money. In my view we don’t need FEMA. It would be better that states fund their own disaster response,” Edwards said. “State budgets have rainy day funds, and so you build up your reserves. Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
It would leave it to Kentucky’s General Assembly to stockpile tens of millions of dollars for all types of disasters — ice storms, tornadoes, floods — expected and unexpected.
FEMA is largely a reimbursement program, authorizing payments to communities and localities after they weather the recovery phase and tally up a clean-up bill.
For instance, FEMA approved $18.9 million just for debris removal in Kentucky caused by last summer’s severe storms that caused flooding, landslides and mudslides.
And sometimes it’s smaller states that get hit with the worst natural disasters, a reality Edwards has little sympathy for.
“There’s a state fairness issue too. The typical dollar varies greatly between Florida and Michigan,” he said. “It seems unfair that Michigan’s paying to rebuild Florida and Louisiana every year. People can choose where they live.”
But even Kentucky’s loudest libertarians — Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie — haven’t gone as far as Edwards to explicitly vouch for the elimination of FEMA.
Each has criticized the agency’s spending practices and pitched reforms along with spending cuts, but Paul listed FEMA at the top of his weekly newsletter, noting the agency is “closely coordinating with state and local officials to provide support.”
Rep. Hal Rogers, whose district encompasses flood-battered Eastern Kentucky, said Wednesday he’s been in personal contact FEMA leaders to discuss federal flood relief improvements.
“I specifically requested mobile centers for FEMA to reach more people as quickly as possible,” he said.
And the entire congressional delegation on Wednesday signed onto Beshear’s request for an expedited major disaster assistance, which would extend FEMA assistance to a greater number of counties.
In Hazard, Ky., which endured unprecedented high water levels, officials executed more than 150 rescues during the first evening.
City Commissioner Luke Glaser told The Herald-Leader it was too early to get political about FEMA’s future, even if it was evident of its impact.
“Whether it’s from FEMA or any other branch of the federal government, we’re desperate people looking for help,” he said Tuesday. “The state helps in addition to FEMA. In 2022, there were FEMA funds and funds from the state of Kentucky. Both were used to do excellent recovery. We’re looking for assistance from both of those places.”
