WASHINGTON — Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Monday that President Donald Trump “wants to dump the responsibility for natural disasters onto states and communities,” responding to a report that FEMA is laying the groundwork to shift disaster costs to states.
The Post
Pallone posted the following on X at 4:48 p.m. on Oct. 19, 2026, in full:
“Trump wants to dump the responsibility for natural disasters onto states and communities even though FEMA is paid for with your federal tax dollars.
As he enriches himself every day, he is abandoning Americans facing the worst day of their lives and telling them to fend for themselves.”
The Report He Linked
The post linked an Oct. 16 report headlined “FEMA lays groundwork to shift disaster burden to states,” written by reporter Thomas Frank. It said the Trump administration plans to reduce state and local dependency on federal disaster aid and could move FEMA workers out of Washington.
Link: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/16/fema-state-reliance-federal-aid-01124455
The report cited an internal memo written Oct. 15 by FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton to agency employees. It said two people with direct knowledge confirmed the memo. The seven-page document says the agency will “strengthen state and local emergency management capacity” to lower reliance on the federal government.
The memo also says FEMA must reduce what it calls unnecessary centralization in Washington, according to the report. It says regional and field teams are often closest to disaster survivors, state and local officials, emergency managers and community partners.
Pallone’s Record on FEMA
Pallone is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and his record on this issue spans more than a year of letters and statements. In October 2025, after the administration canceled $11 billion in FEMA disaster payments owed to states, he called the move a “gut punch” to states like New Jersey. He said he had already called for the firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the acting FEMA administrator.
That statement noted he had led a Sept. 25 letter after the Government Accountability Office found FEMA violated federal law six times by withholding shelter funds, and that he had warned in August that pulling half of FEMA’s staff to ICE during hurricane season would hurt disaster response.
In May 2026, Pallone sent Trump a letter requesting a FEMA briefing within 14 days and warning the agency was entering hurricane season in a state of instability after leadership turmoil and staffing losses. The letter said FEMA had cycled through three acting administrators since Trump returned to office. He wrote that FEMA was “dangerously unprepared.”
The letter also criticized a proposal from a Trump-appointed FEMA advisory panel to reduce the amount of disaster aid that goes to states. Pallone called the plan “incredibly alarming” and wrote that states lack the capacity and financial resources to respond to more frequent extreme weather events.
In August 2026, Pallone asked Republican committee leaders for an immediate investigation into Trump’s July 2 denial of $227 million in disaster aid for New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island after a record-breaking February blizzard. He wrote that denying aid to citizens “just because they live in states that elected Democratic governors” would be a betrayal of Trump’s oath.
The Oct. 15 memo describes a long-term plan and does not announce specific changes to disaster declarations or aid thresholds, according to the report. The report said the administration is also weighing a move of FEMA workers out of Washington.