Senators Meet to Discuss Disaster Response and Recovery Reforms; Hearing Planned on Anniversary of the Palisades Fire
Jan 26, 2026
By Oliver Porter, NLIHC DHR Intern and Noah Patton, NLIHC Director of Disaster Recovery
On January 13, multiple senators convened to discuss the fate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in an unannounced private meeting hosted by Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) and Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ), according to recent reports. Two former FEMA administrators attended the bipartisan meeting, which occurred at a moment when the future of the agency remains unclear. The agency, which faced significant staffing and programming cuts in 2025, saw further cuts at the end of the year. Additionally, FEMA still does not have a congressionally approved permanent administrator. Plans for the agency were supposed to be outlined in the presidentially appointed FEMA Review Council’s final report that was commissioned by executive order a year ago, but the council’s final hearing last month was canceled unexpectedly, and a new meeting time has not been announced.
In addition to disaster response and recovery news from the Hill, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will be hosting a hearing on January 28 to examine the causes and response to the Palisades Fire, which, along with the nearby Eaton Fire, caused burned areas of Los Angeles in early 2025. The hearing will feature testimony from relevant experts regarding the fire.
Disaster survivors and emergency management professionals continue to await movement in the House on the “Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act” (FEMA Act of 2025)—a bipartisan bill endorsed by NLIHC that would restore the agency to independent status separate from the Department of Homeland Security while implementing a host of other major reforms. The FEMA Act passed out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in September. It still needs to receive a vote on the House floor. Currently, the FEMA Act lacks a comprehensive Senate companion bill, which has slowed its progress through Congress.
NLIHC's Disaster Housing Recovery, Research, and Resilience (DHR) Team will continue to promote the policy priorities of the more than 900 members of the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) to lawmakers in both chambers of Congress, including the FEMA Act.
To support these efforts, readers can add their organization’s signature to NLIHC’s FEMA Act Support letter.