From NPR: Communities are waiting on billions in disaster funding from the Trump administration

“Placerville is one of hundreds of communities around the country waiting on a growing backlog at FEMA. States say that under the Trump administration, disaster funding payments have slowed to a trickle, delaying crucial projects that could help communities withstand wildfires, hurricanes and floods.

In all, FEMA owes communities almost $10 billion, according to internal agency documents obtained by NPR. Much of that funding would reimburse local governments for what they’ve already spent repairing infrastructure after major disasters.

Have information you want to share about changes at FEMA? Reach out to this reporter through encrypted communications on Signal at sommer.55

Emergency managers from several states say the backlog in funding is having ripple effects through communities, stressing local budgets and delaying or potentially derailing disaster projects that have taken years to plan.”

Just released (4:26pm) by the NY Times: Trump Administration Live Updates: G.O.P. Leaders Reach Deal to End Homeland Security Shutdown
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/01/us/trump-news

“Homeland Security: House and Senate Republicans agreed on Wednesday to advance a bipartisan plan to fund the Homeland Security Department, which has been closed for more than six weeks. Under the plan, which the House rejected last week, a regular spending bill would fund the bulk of the department and Republicans would seek to fund President Trump’s immigration crackdown through a separate process aimed at skirting a Democratic filibuster. The plan does not include any of the restrictions on immigration enforcement that Democrats have sought after federal officers killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year. Read more ›”

From Politico: The DHS Shutdown Might Never End
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/30/the-dhs-shutdown-might-never-end-00851464

“Washington is locked in a high-stakes game of chicken over Department of Homeland Security funding, raising the possibility that thousands of federal workers could go unpaid for several more weeks — if not longer.

The shutdown is already the longest ever experienced by any part of the federal government, and in recent days the political sparring has gone from being a mostly partisan showdown between Republicans and Democrats into a messy internal battle for the GOP.”

From PBS: FEMA complies with court order to resume major disaster preparedness grant program.

“The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday opened applications for a major resilience grant program that the agency canceled last year, less than three weeks after a federal judge ordered FEMA to make the funding available.

FEMA will make $1 billion available for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which helps states, local governments, territories and tribes take on preparedness projects to harden against natural hazards like fires, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes.”

From HSToday: FEMA and the Human Cost of a Government Shutdown
“I served our nation as a civil servant. I experienced the stress, financial impact, and uncertainty. My children were impacted too. What made it worse was hearing public speculation about a bloated government with no empathy, compassion, or even understanding of what it truly means to dedicate your life to service and then be unappreciated and disregarded like pawns in a chess game we do not even play.

The federal government has already experienced two shutdowns in 2026.

But they are not the same story.”

From CNN: Deal to reopen DHS sputters on Capitol Hill as anxiety in both parties spikes.

” The latest push to reopen the Department of Homeland Security is sputtering on Capitol Hill, with frustrations so high that some rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties are privately meeting on their own to try to salvage talks.

Just a day earlier, Senate GOP leaders believed they’d found a compromise that would reopen the shuttered DHS by this weekend. But that plan — which would withhold money for federal immigration enforcement but without any policy changes — has fallen flat in both parties, leaving President Donald Trump and GOP leaders with no clear path to end the nearly 40-day stalemate before Congress leaves in two days for a two-week recess. “

From the SmokyMountainNews: FEMA 2.0; What the Leaked Draft of the FEMA Review Council Report Really Means.

A leaked draft of the FEMA Review Council’s final report on reform of the disaster response agency appears to shift considerable burden onto states, local governments, tribes and territories (SLTTs) while slashing the agency’s workforce by 50%, positioning federal response in the rear and largely ignoring requests to send recovery funding down to the county level.

President Donald Trump established the FEMA Review Council on Jan. 24, 2025, charging its leaders, then Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, with gathering stakeholder input and presenting a list of recommendations for improving the embattled agency.

The full draft report, obtained by The Smoky Mountain News, has been floating around Washington, D.C., since last December. Some details have already been reported by other outlets, but a full breakdown has never been presented until now.

Note: the full article is 21 pages long.

From HSToday: The Benefits of Community-Led Disaster Recovery: Part III
Enabling communities to lead with their strengths and participate in recovery efforts yields more responsive, resilient outcomes.

“This is the final article of a three-part emergency management series exploring the importance of strengths-based approaches, strong social networks, community ownership of emergency preparedness, and better recovery through activation of local strengths. [Earlier parts of this article are cited on the website.]

Disaster recovery involves more than just rebuilding structures. It’s about restoring trust and confidence and enabling communities to take constructive action. And just like preparedness, successful recovery starts with knowing who and what your community can rely on. “

The Diva just ran across two lengthy and informative articles re recovery in the Jan. issue of National Geographic. She cannot violate copywrite rules, but here are the titles.

• Learning from Disasters; Building Back Better
• Learning from Disasters; Reflections on Los Angeles

Hopefully a friend or your local library will have a copy of that issue.

From PBS: DHS secretary nominee Mullin presents a different vision for FEMA than predecessor Noem

“President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security presented a softer approach on federal emergency management in his Senate confirmation hearing, rejecting the idea of eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency and pledging to undo some of his predecessor’s unpopular policies.

The remarks by Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday raised hopes among disaster response managers that a shift is coming in the administration’s approach to FEMA after months of turbulence under the outgoing DHS secretary, Kristi Noem.”