Climate change is causing storms, wildfires, droughts, and floods to become more frequent and severe, and these hazards are the leading contributor to rising disaster costs across the country. The federal government, primarily through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), helps state and local governments cover disaster response and recovery and hazard mitigation costs through a variety of programs.
But actions by the Trump Administration denying or delaying disaster funding, gutting hazard mitigation programs, and generally undermining FEMA have placed new burdens on state budgets and raised risks for climate-impacted residents. Those hardest hit by disasters tend to be people with low incomes or low wealth and people of color (particularly Black and Latine people, and American Indians and Alaska Natives) due to interlocking discriminatory systems, including racist housing policies, government disinvestment, and economic exploitation.
These damaging actions by the Trump Administration include:
Straining state budgets through disaster funding denials and delays: The Administration has denied and delayed decisions on numerous state requests for disaster aid. For example, the Administration denied California’s appeal for aid following the 2024 wildfires, and billions of requested funds for recovery from fires in January 2025 have been stalled.
As of October 2025, at least 12 state requests for aid had been denied since the beginning of the Trump Administration, over a dozen approvals were still pending, and denials of specific parts of requests — such as Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) or an increase in federal cost sharing — were piling up. Many of these denials have fallen along party lines. For example, in October, the President approved disaster declarations for Alaska, Nebraska, and North Dakota (which have Republican governors) but denied declarations for Illinois and Maryland (which have Democratic governors) for severe flooding.
In addition, the Administration has created delays in providing aid by imposing new application requirements. These denials and delays are making both the disaster recovery process and longer-term risk reduction more difficult for states and residents.
The Administration is also considering raising the threshold for the amount of damage a community must suffer to qualify for Public Assistance (PA) by four times. (PA helps pay for things such as debris removal and emergency building repairs following a disaster.) This would further skew assistance to wealthier places by making it harder for places with lower property values to qualify for assistance, deepening inequities and shifting costs to states.
Increasing climate risk by undoing hazard mitigation programs and policies: In a March executive order, the President said he intends to shift preparedness responsibilities to states. In April the Administration attempted to end the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which funds activities such as making homes and schools more resilient to fires and floods. Twenty states sued FEMA, arguing that the cancellation violated federal law; litigation is ongoing. The Administration has also made several policy changes that make it harder to use HMA for addressing climate risk. These include removing references to climate change from HMA administrative guidance and rescinding the Obama and Biden Administrations’ stricter requirements for flood risk protections in buildings using federal funds.
Creating uncertainty through calls to dismantle FEMA: President Trump and other Administration officials, such as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have repeatedly said they intend to dismantle or significantly restructure FEMA. FEMA staffing decreased 9.5 percent between January and June 2025 primarily due to the Administration’s workforce reduction program, leaving the agency less prepared to deal with a major disaster. The President has also appointed a FEMA Review Council to recommend changes to the agency, though major changes would need congressional approval. Further, the Acting FEMA Administrator resigned on November 17, adding to chaos and uncertainty in the agency.
While these actions by the Trump Administration pose significant challenges for states and their residents, states still have options to use available federal funding to prepare for the worsening hazards that a climate-changed future is bringing and lessen future disaster impacts, as we discuss here.
Rachel Jacobson is the Lead Researcher of State Climate Policy on the State Fiscal Policy team, where she leads the Center’s work to direct the benefits of federal climate tax credits, loans, and grants to low-income communities and communities of color and guides advocates to influence state climate change policies and investments. Prior to joining the Center, Rachel spent over a decade building transformational climate and social justice policy through cross-sector collaboration with the American Society of Adaptation Professionals, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and private sector companies. Rachel holds B.A., M.P.P., and M.S. degrees from the University of Michigan.
Mikaela Tajo is a Climate Policy Analyst on the Federal Fiscal Policy team. Before coming to the Center, Mikaela worked at the Urban Institute as a Research Analyst focused on homelessness, racial equity, and community-engaged and participatory research methods. Mikaela received her bachelor’s in political science and her master’s in legislative affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
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