Fate of US disaster relief agency FEMA still being discussed

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(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has no immediate plans to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency amid ongoing discussions about the disaster relief agency’s future, the Washington Post reported.

No official action was being taken to wind down FEMA and changes in the agency would probably amount to a “rebranding” that would emphasize state leaders’ roles in disaster response, the newspaper reported, citing a senior White House official.

Trump, who took office in January vowing to gut or abolish FEMA, was visiting Texas on Friday to see the aftermath of flash floods that swept through parts of the Texas Hill Country and killed at least 120, with more than 160 people unaccounted for.

Trump has frequently said he wanted states to have primary responsibility for responding to disasters. When asked by a reporter on Sunday whether he still planned to phase out FEMA following the Texas floods, Trump responded that it was a topic “we can talk about later”.

“The president’s FEMA Review Council, comprised of top experts in their field, will recommend to the president how FEMA may be reformed in ways that best serve the national interest, including how America responds to and recovers from disasters such that the federal role remains supplemental and appropriate to the scale of disaster,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email to Reuters.

Speaking at the FEMA review council on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called for FEMA to be eliminated in its current form, saying states and local authorities should take the lead in emergency management.

Trump signed a disaster declaration for Texas on Sunday to unlock federal aid for those affected.

“The president immediately delivered the dollars, Texas already has that money in their hands, and Governor [Greg] Abbott is the lead decision-maker when it comes to the Texas floods,” the White House official told the Washington Post.

“You should expect this structure, that has quietly taken place, to continue,” the official added, according to the newspaper.

The Texas floods, the first major deadly disaster since Trump took office in January, were a stark reminder of the extent to which states lean on the agency during a crisis.

(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Alex Richardson and Caitlin Webber)