FEMA Spent Almost Half Year's Budget in 8 Days

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned last week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency's budget might not withstand another hurricane. Hours before Milton struck in Florida, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a briefing, "I'm going to have to evaluate how quickly we're burning the remaining dollars in the Disaster Relief Fund." One count is in: In the first eight days of the fiscal year, Politico reports, FEMA has spent nearly half of its yearly congressional allocation for disaster relief.

At this rate, unless Congress adds funding, FEMA will soon have to limit spending. That step involves stopping rebuilding projects tied to disasters, which includes repairing damage to roads, sewer plants, and water-treatment facilities. The money remaining would go only toward life-saving operations. "We keep a reserve in the Disaster Relief Fund" for that use, Criswell said Wednesday. It's not clear whether operations such as search-and-rescue operations would be halted, per Politico. When FEMA had a budget shortfall a year ago, she told Congress the disaster money remaining "would be insufficient to cover all of our ongoing life-saving operations."

FEMA has had such problems before, and it's enacted the restrictions 10 times since 2003. Stopping the long-term repairs "makes a considerable difference in overall community financial health and resilience," said Chad Berginnis of the Association of State Floodplain Managers. A group of House Democrats called on Speaker Mike Johnson to bring members back into session to "pass robust disaster relief spending." Johnson, a Republican, said he has no plans to reconvene before the Nov. 5 election. (More FEMA stories.)