{"id":19248,"date":"2026-02-22T21:16:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/noem-restricts-disaster-aid-over-shutdown-targeting-ice\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T21:16:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:16:45","slug":"noem-restricts-disaster-aid-over-shutdown-targeting-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/noem-restricts-disaster-aid-over-shutdown-targeting-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Noem restricts disaster aid over shutdown targeting ICE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Trump administration on Sunday halted disaster aid to states for long-term rebuilding projects in order to focus on emergency operations as the partial government shutdown enters its second week. <\/p>\n

The Federal Emergency Management Agency \u201cis scaling back to bare-minimum, life-saving operations only,\u201d Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.<\/u><\/a> \u201cAll non-emergency recovery work is paused.\u201d<\/p>\n

The funding freeze for projects stemming from past disasters adds a new source of uncertainty for states as they navigate the government’s shifting system for catastrophe response after President Donald Trump vowed to reduce aid for extreme weather. <\/p>\n

It’s also a sign that political acrimony over Trump’s immigration crackdown has affected FEMA, which is housed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Department of Homeland Security. Congressional Democrats have blocked a DHS spending bill over ICE’s aggressive tactics. <\/p>\n

It’s the 11th time since 2003 that FEMA has suspended funding for long-term disaster-recovery projects, such as rebuilding public facilities, based on budget constraints. <\/p>\n

The latest restriction was unusual because the agency had $7.1 billion available in its disaster fund<\/a> in late January. Historically, FEMA has waited until the disaster fund drops to about $3 billion before it restricts spending.<\/p>\n

FEMA officials told Congress last week that the fund had $9.6 billion, according to a senior congressional aide who was granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. The fund’s balance increased in February because FEMA recovered aid that had been approved but not spent, the aide said.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Noem said DHS \u201cmust take emergency measures to preserve limited funds and personnel.” The announcement came days after FEMA employee travel was restricted by DHS.<\/p>\n

Noem blamed Democrats for the shutdown, which she said forced her to halt the FEMA funding. Noem also suspended two DHS airport programs over the weekend that allowed some travelers to skip long lines at screening checkpoints and at customs entry stations. \u201cThese actions reflect the reality of operating without appropriations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Noem, whose department includes the Transportation Security Administration, said she wanted to \u201crefocus Department personnel on the majority of travelers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The TSA contradicted Noem hours after her announcement and said its PreCheck program<\/u><\/a> at passenger screening checkpoints \u201cremains operational with no change for the traveling public.\u201d<\/p>\n

That led some Democrats to criticize the administration for politicizing homeland security programs. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese nitwits are at it again,\u201d Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement, adding that the airport programs \u201cREDUCE airport lines and ease the burden on DHS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noem\u2019s decision on FEMA funding will not affect operations at 44 active disaster sites, including those in a dozen Southern states that are recovering from a massive winter storm in late January. Nearly 2,800 disaster specialists were working across the country on Sunday, and another 4,400 were available to be deployed, according to a FEMA report.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

But the funding restrictions could delay thousands of long-term disaster rebuilding projects. FEMA pays at least 75 percent of the cost of eligible projects. Many states and localities delay or halt work when FEMA stops its payments.<\/p>\n

\u201cStates and communities will be forced to wait for long-term response work to continue,\u201d Gregg Phillips, FEMA\u2019s associate administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery, told a House Appropriations subcommittee<\/u><\/a> on Feb. 11.<\/p>\n

The FEMA disaster fund \u201chas sufficient balances to continue emergency response activities for the foreseeable future,\u201d Phillips said in written testimony submitted to panel. But if a disaster occurred, the fund \u201cwould be seriously strained.\u201d<\/p>\n

The funding restriction also threatens to further delay Trump’s decisions on granting 14 requests for disaster aid by governors and tribal leaders since Nov. 26.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration on Sunday halted disaster aid to states for long-term rebuilding projects in order to focus on emergency operations as the partial government shutdown enters its second week. The Federal Emergency Management Agency \u201cis scaling back to bare-minimum, life-saving operations only,\u201d Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. \u201cAll non-emergency recovery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19248\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}