May 1, 20255 min readTrump Quietly Halts Money to States for Preventing Disaster DamagePresident Trump is the first president in at least three decades to deny governors’ requests for funding that’s meant to protect people and propertyBy Thomas Frank & E&E News President Donald Trump is considering a major overhaul to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesCLIMATEWIRE | The Trump administration is scaling back a multibillion-dollar program that has been the backbone of state efforts to protect homes, hospitals and other structures from floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.President Donald Trump stopped approving new allocations in early April from a federal program that has been a top funding source for protecting people and property from disasters since 1989. The Hazard Mitigation and Grant Program has been used to elevate or demolish flood-prone homes, install tornado-safe rooms and strengthen buildings in hurricane or earthquake zones.The program, overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been crucial for states such as Florida, Oklahoma, California and Missouri. Louisiana has received $2.5 billion to protect 10,000 properties, records show.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.“It’s an extremely important program for hazard mitigation,” said Anna Weber, senior policy analyst for climate adaptation at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Instead of just rebuilding, we’re building resilience so we’re preventing future damages, deaths and injuries.”The program has allocated nearly $18 billion to states to safeguard 185,000 properties, according to an analysis of FEMA records by POLITICO’s E&E News.On roughly one-third of the properties, flood-prone buildings were demolished and the land was left vacant as part of local efforts to reduce flood damage.More than $11 billion has been used to fortify medical facilities, power plants, roads and bridges so they will continue to operate during disasters, the analysis shows.The move is Trump’s latest step to cut federal disaster spending and weaken FEMA as he considers abolishing or shrinking the agency. On Monday, Trump named 13 members to a council he charged with reviewing the agency and recommending overhauls.Trump’s spending halt from the hazard-mitigation program comes weeks after he canceled another multibillion-dollar FEMA grant program, raising concerns that states and localities will stop efforts to minimize damage from future disasters. FEMA’s mitigation programs have been widely praised for reducing long-term disaster costs.“HMGP is more cost-effective in the long-term because it helps communities rebuild from disasters stronger than before,” Virginia Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner said in a statement to POLITICO's E&E News.Trump’s action will not affect roughly $11 billion in hazard-mitigation funding that has been approved but not spent. North Carolina, for example, still has $1.7 billion that was approved by then-President Joe Biden after Hurricane Helene caused widespread damage last year.The Trump administration has not announced changes to the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Neither FEMA nor the White House responded to requests for comment.But an internal FEMA document and Trump’s handling of two recent disasters show the administration’s new approach.On April 4, in a seemingly routine decision, Trump approved a disaster declaration for Virginia to help it recover from recent flooding.But while Trump agreed to help 16 counties rebuild, he took the highly unusual step of refusing a request by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, for hazard-mitigation money as part of the disaster-aid package.It was the first time in at least 27 years that a president had denied a state's request for hazard-mitigation money while approving its disaster declaration request, according to FEMA records that go back 27 years. Governors routinely request — and presidents routinely approve — mitigation money for disasters.Trump himself approved mitigation money when he declared disasters in Kentucky, West Virginia and Oklahoma in February and March — the first three declarations of his second term. In his first term, Trump approved $4.7 billion in hazard-mitigation grants.“We are deeply concerned communities will have fewer resources available to protect against the impacts of extreme weather events,” Kaine and Warner said in their statement, noting Trump’s recent cancellation of another FEMA mitigation program.The Virginia Department of Emergency Management said in an email, “FEMA has informed us that his request is still in the review process.”Trump 'redesigning' mitigationIn an April 12 memo to the White House, FEMA acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton suggested that Trump “not automatically approve the Hazard Mitigation Program” when declaring a disaster.“This is an action the President has already taken,” Hamilton wrote to the Office of Management and Budget in an apparent reference to Trump’s denial of mitigation funds for Virginia. “This will serve as a precursor to further evaluating and redesigning mitigation grant programs.”The six-page memo, first reported by CNN, suggests making other cuts to FEMA programs, such as denying aid for smaller disasters and for snowstorms.Trump indicated his intention to follow Hamilton’s recommendation on the mitigation program when he approved a second disaster declaration for Kentucky on April 25 without including mitigation money.“When I saw Kentucky, I saw that now there’s a pattern, and this is consistent with the recommendation Hamilton made to OMB,” former FEMA chief of staff Michael Coen said, referring to the White House Office of Management and Budget.Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, applauded FEMA for approving disaster aid for households hit by recent flooding and did not reply to E&E News questions about the absence of mitigation money.A hazard-mitigation grant is usually equal to 15 percent of the amount of money that FEMA projects it will spend on an individual disaster.Last year, the Biden administration altered the program to help states spend their hazard-mitigation grants. The program had come under scrutiny for its complexity, which resulted in states not spending billions of dollars they were allocated.Trump has said his overhaul of FEMA aims to give states more financial and logistical responsibility for disaster recovery — a position embraced by some experts and former FEMA leaders.But states are not likely to replace FEMA hazard-mitigation money, said Kelly McKinney, a former deputy commissioner of New York City Emergency Management.Many state programs are strongly backed by advocates who “weigh-in in a very big, noisy way” to protect spending, McKinney said. “There aren’t a lot of stakeholders for mitigation.”States also would have difficulty mounting a legal challenge to reverse Trump's freeze of hazard-mitigation spending because the government is not required to run the program, according to Weber of the Natural Resources Defense Council.In early April, Trump canceled another FEMA mitigation program, named Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, and froze $3.6 billion of unspent funds that had been approved for states. Although FEMA created the program during Trump’s first term, the agency recently called it a “wasteful, politicized grant program.”Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.