Democrats risk FEMA disaster funding collapse as DHS shutdown hits Day 5
Senate Democrats and the White House remain locked in a standoff over proposed reforms to immigration operations nationwide — a dispute that could carry unintended consequences for disaster response efforts.
Without a fresh infusion of funding, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could soon face constraints on its disaster relief operations. As hurricane season approaches, limited funding could hamper the agency’s ability to respond to major storms and other emergencies.
The partial government shutdown — affecting FEMA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — entered its fifth day with no resolution in sight.
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Before the shutdown began last week, a top FEMA official warned lawmakers that shuttering DHS could significantly strain the agency’s disaster response capabilities.
Office of Response and Recovery Associate Administrator Gregg Phillips told a House panel examining the effects of a DHS shutdown that while FEMA’s disaster relief fund currently holds roughly $7 billion — enough to sustain emergency responses for the "foreseeable future" — a catastrophic event could quickly exhaust those resources.
"That said, if a catastrophic disaster occurred, the [disaster relief fund] would be seriously strained," Phillips said.
For comparison, the federal government spent more than $50 billion on disaster relief during the last fiscal year. Phillips also noted that during his nearly two-month tenure, FEMA had already spent $3 billion in 45 days across roughly 5,000 projects.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said that FEMA would play a "key role" in responding to a sewage spill into the Potomac River, where roughly 200 million gallons of raw sewage have poured into the waterway that runs through the nation’s capital.
The cost of FEMA’s involvement in that cleanup effort has not yet been determined, a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, the current DHS funding bill, which Senate Democrats rejected last week, includes roughly $26 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund. But negotiations remain stalled as Democrats push for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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There has been little progress this week. Congressional Democrats sent a counterproposal to the White House late Monday, responding to an offer from the administration made last week.
A White House official told Fox News Digital that "the parties are still pretty far apart."
"The administration remains interested in good-faith conversations to end the Democrat shutdown before more Americans feel the impacts," the official said. "But the administration also remains committed to carrying out the president’s promise to enforce federal immigration law."
Spokespeople for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said congressional Democrats have "been clear for weeks about the reforms needed to rein in ICE and stop the violence."
"We’ve continued working through language and additional issues to make progress, but Republicans have largely ignored the core guardrails Americans are demanding," they said. "Dems are negotiating in good faith. It’s time for Republicans to do the same."
Unless a deal is reached before next week, the Senate is expected to vote Monday on the original full-year DHS funding bill — a measure likely to be blocked again by Schumer and his caucus.