- President Donald Trump spoke Tuesday of his plans to begin winding down FEMA after the current hurricane season.
- Disaster response funding will come directly from the White House.
- A FEMA review council is being established to examine what FEMA could look like as a new agency.
The Trump administration wants to shrink the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and on Tuesday the president said the agency will start winding down after this year’s hurricane season.
During a press conference in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump spoke on his plans for FEMA’s future alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“We want to wean off of FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state level. … we’re moving it back to the state so the governors can handle it,” Trump said.
Trump’s plans for FEMA
When asked what the cost to address natural disasters for states would be if FEMA is dismantled, the president said that it wouldn’t all fall to the states — they would still get federal money, just not as much.
Trump said he wants to give money directly from the president’s office to the states for disaster cleanup. In doing so, Trump said, the federal government will be giving out less money.
Trump said the changes would be made after hurricane season. FEMA has in the past coordinated fighting wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters.
Noem said that the administration is setting up a FEMA review council to go over the agency, start working on reforms and decide what FEMA will look like as a different agency.
Noem said the the new format will “empower governors to go out and respond to emergency situations.”
Noem also added that this will make sure the taxpayers are only fulfilling the needs that are appropriate.
“People are responsible to respond to their own people closest to home,” the secretary said.
The president agreed with Noem that governors should be doing more instead of the federal government.
“Governors should be able to handle it,” Trump said. “If they can’t handle it, maybe they shouldn’t be governor”
What Trump said about timber, wildfire season
During the press conference, Trump also spoke about the country’s forests, which he referred to as the “best timber in the world.”
He said that the country doesn’t use most of its timber because of “environmental restrictions that are ridiculous,” and he will be getting rid of some of those restrictions so more timber can be used.
The president also spoke about how much timber is lost in wildfires and said the number should be a lot lower.
As wildfire season approaches, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has touted a plan in response to Trump’s goal to encourage timber production in the U.S., which the administration argues will help manage fire risk by transporting hazardous fuels from forests to processing facilities, per Spectrum News.
Rollins also noted that the administration is at 96% capacity in terms of hiring firefighters.