The Federal Emergency Management Agency is under scrutiny for its bureaucracy and delays in the second Trump administration. In the House of Representatives, there’s a bipartisan push to take it out from under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security.
The legislation that would do that, which was introduced by Republican Rep. Sam Graves, would give FEMA more agency and elevate its director to a Cabinet-level role that would report directly to President Donald Trump. The legislation has an uncertain path ahead, especially given Trump’s calls for letting states take the lead in natural disaster response and the strong desire among some Republicans to get rid of the agency completely.
But the FEMA Act of 2025 has gotten enough support to pass out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by a vote of 57-3. The office of Rep. Andrew Garbarino, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, which also has jurisdiction, declined to comment on when his committee would take up the bill.