Governor Katie Hobbs Calls on Trump Administration to End Attacks on FEMA

Phoenix, AZ –  In a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Governor Katie Hobbs urged the Trump administration to abandon any plans to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), calling such a move “alarming and dangerous.”

Governor Hobbs expressed Arizona’s strong opposition to recent statements from Secretary Noem suggesting FEMA “fundamentally needs to go away,” stressing the importance of FEMA’s partnership and support to prepare for and respond to increasingly severe and complex disasters. 

“Ending FEMA would be a catastrophic dereliction of federal responsibility,” said Governor Katie Hobbs. “Arizona has faced wildfires, extreme heat, and other emergencies that require federal partnership. States cannot, and should not, be expected to go it alone.”

In her letter, Governor Hobbs reaffirmed her commitment to working with the administration’s newly formed FEMA Review Council to identify practical reforms that improve the federal disaster response system. She proposed targeted changes that would:

• Expand early access to disaster funding based on forecasted need.
• Allow for pre-approved disaster response plans modeled on successful elements of the CARES Act. 
• Strengthen the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP). 
• Invest more in pre-disaster mitigation and resilience, particularly for drought and wildfire-prone regions like Arizona. 

 

The Governor emphasized the importance of federal continuity in emergency response, noting Arizona’s emergency management and public safety agencies collaborate with FEMA across a range of disasters, including the recent wildfires in Greer. 

“FEMA must move at the speed of crisis,” Governor Hobbs added. “That means flexible, predictable tools that help governors act swiftly and protect lives. I stand ready to work with Secretary Noem and the FEMA Review Council to modernize and strengthen our disaster response system without dismantling it.”

Governor Hobbs concluded her letter by warning that eliminating FEMA would put Arizona communities at risk and undermine decades of coordinated emergency management progress. She called on the Trump administration to focus instead on strengthening federal-state partnerships in emergency preparedness and response.

Read the letter here.