What a shutdown would mean for FEMA resources amid lingering North Carolina storm damage

A federal government shutdown in the coming days could have implications for the long-term efforts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but would likely have little effect on the ground-level emergency response work of the agency

For activities like FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene, whose devastating effects are still being felt in North Carolina, the agency relies on the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which is a “ no-year fund” that is available for as long as it takes. spend instead of being in debt for fiscal years. That means the fund would not be immediately affected if Congress fails to reach a deal to fund the federal government before the weekend deadline.

“They will not stop emergency work: FEMA has authority to continue to provide emergency relief measures even during a shutdown,” said Erin Greten, an attorney with the firm Baker Donelson, whohe wrotea brief on the effects of the closures at FEMA in September.

“It’s not like they just left, they’re going to continue to do their mission,” Greten said.

However, he added, a government shutdown would hamper FEMA’s efforts if the agency is forced to implement funding for immediate needs and essentially triage spending. The agency must implement a funding orientation for immediate needs, which prioritizes rescue operations, when funding will not cover the entire activity. .

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned during this year’s hurricane season that the amount of money in the DRF was insufficient to continue responding to new disasters without an additional funding bill.

“As long as they still have funding in the Disaster Relief Fund, they can continue to fund disaster relief operations, but they need a supplement to add more funds,” Greten said.

There’s no telling how long a potential shutdown could last, but in calling for the initial spending deal reached by lawmakers to be rejected this week, Elon Musk endorsed the idea of ​​shutting down the government until the president-elect takes office trump That period would include the Jan. 7 application deadline that FEMA announced for Helene aid in November. The Hill has reached out to FEMA Region 4, which includes western North Carolina, to clarify how a shutdown could affect the deadline.

After Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reached an agreement with congressional leaders on a funding bill earlier in the week, both Musk and Trump called on Republicans to vote against it, which led Johnson to withdraw the bill and introduce an alternative plan, which also failed Thursday night despite Trump’s endorsement. That bill included $110 billion in disaster and farm aid.

Trump has also demanded that a funding bill include an increase in the federal debt limit, which would have been suspended for two years under Thursday night’s failed bill.

With the shutdown deadline just hours away, House Republicans areconsidering a plan Cfund the government and allocate disaster relief.

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