The order follows Trump’s visits to Swannanoa, North Carolina — an area devastated by Hurricane Helene — and fire-stricken areas of Southern California, where he suggested eliminating FEMA, according to the New York Times.
According to the executive order, the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council, co-chaired by the secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense, will assess FEMA’s effectiveness over the past four years, comparing its responses to state and private sector efforts of disaster relief.
The council will then submit a report within 180 days evaluating FEMA’s role and the effectiveness of its coordination with states and potential reforms. Unless extended by the President, the council will dissolve after one year.
FEMA is responsible for coordinating federal disaster response and has provided significant aid nationally, including $250 million to Massachusetts in the last three years, said Daniel Aldrich, the dean’s professor of resilience and co-director of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University.
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