In a Victory for Disaster Recovery Reform Advocates, Trump Administration Appoints Members to FEMA Review Council
May 05, 2025
Amid significant staff and capacity losses at FEMA, President Trump on April 28 announced the appointment of 13 individuals to the presidentially created FEMA Review Council tasked with “reforming and streamlining” the country’s disaster response and recovery system. The appointments come despite rumors that the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was working to dismantle the agency outright. The apparent reversal will likely slow efforts to directly dismantle the agency during this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which starts June 1. This development has occurred thanks to the direct outreach of hundreds of members of the NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC).
The review council was created by President Trump on January 24 via an Executive Order (EO); however, it is unclear if anyone, or who, had been appointed to the council since. The EO called for the council to analyze existing capacity of the agency and advice the president on potential changes to the agency. A Request for Information (RFI) did appear in the Federal Register under the auspices of the council last month. The RFI requests feedback on experiences with FEMA during recent disasters. NLIHC and its DHRC are coordinating comments to respond to that RFI.
The members appointed to the FEMA Review Council were:
- Co-Chair: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem
- Co-Chair: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
- Greg Abbott, Governor, State of Texas
- Phil Bryant, Former Governor, State of Mississippi
- Jane Castor, Mayor, City of Tampa, Florida
- Mark Cooper, Former Chief of Staff, Governor John Bel Edwards
- Rosie Cordero-Stutz, Sheriff, Miami-Dade County
- Evan Greenberg, CEO, Chubb Limited
- Kevin Guthrie, Executive Director, Florida Division of Emergency Management
- W. Nim Kidd, Chief, Texas Division of Emergency Management
- Michael Whatley, Chairman, Republican National Committee
- Glenn Youngkin, Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia
- Robert J. Fenton, Jr., Region 9 Administrator and two-time Acting FEMA Administrator
Despite this victory, we continue to ask that members and partners contact their members of Congress to ask that they work to protect FEMA from potential dismantling.