Latest From the FEMA Review Council...

I am increasingly concerned that the ongoing entropy within our national emergency management enterprise is helping no one—least of all the professional emergency managers at the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) levels who are bearing the brunt of this prolonged circus. Every new development adds friction, confusion, and delay. And as Former FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor, CEM, recently noted, none of this should surprise us. FEMA has long understood its problems and, in Gaynor’s words, “knows what to fix and how to fix it”—yet continues to be constrained by political, structural, and bureaucratic forces that prevent meaningful reform.¹

This dynamic is now openly eroding confidence in the Administration’s ability to fulfill its Stafford Act responsibilities in a timely, effective, and coherent manner. SLTT emergency managers—already stretched by increasing operational complexity—are now forced to navigate turbulence that is entirely avoidable. The result, as Gaynor warns, is a system drifting without strategic vision: too many priorities, too little unity of direction, and a chronic inability to return to fundamentals.

One cannot help but wonder how much of this confusion could have been prevented had there been genuine integration of practitioner input—from the International Association of Emergency Managers, the Big City Emergency Managers, the National Emergency Management Association, the U.S. Emergency and Disaster Management Congress, and state emergency management associations. These groups represent operational truth. Their voices are grounded in reality, not politics. As Gaynor argues, reforms must be shaped “by those who actually do the work,” yet the current process continues to marginalize precisely those perspectives.

Overview of Recent Events

• The FEMA Review Council completed its work several weeks ago, producing a comprehensive 100+ page report. It addressed nearly every major FEMA program and included proposed executive and legislative actions. Gaynor anticipated that such a report—if left intact—could have been a blueprint for returning FEMA to its core mission.

• DHS leadership then revised the report, reducing it to roughly 20 pages. As one of the co-chairing bodies, DHS had the authority to do so. But the resulting edits sharply reduced both the number and depth of recommendations, particularly those requiring congressional action. The product that remained bore little resemblance to the expertise-driven original submission. Gaynor has repeatedly highlighted this exact problem: internal knowledge exists, but it gets diluted or buried before it ever reaches decision-makers.

• A public meeting of the FEMA Review Council was scheduled for 11 DEC 2025, in accordance with FACA requirements.¹

• On 10 DEC 2025, CNN published a detailed examination of the edited report, raising public and professional alarm.²  

• Hours later, the White House cancelled the public meeting, reportedly because they wanted more legislative actions and more actionable recommendations—the very elements removed during the DHS editing process. The left hand and right hand are clearly not coordinating.³  

• Reports indicate more than 5,000 people registered for the meeting, the largest anticipated turnout in the Council’s history—underscoring how desperate the field is for clarity and direction.

• In an additional twist, DHS Secretary Noem reportedly left a Homeland Security Committee hearing early on 11 DEC 2025, citing the need to attend a FEMA-related meeting that had already been cancelled.⁴  

Gaynor has warned repeatedly that this level of dysfunction is predictable when reform efforts lack transparency, authority, and disciplined leadership. The current chaos is exactly what emerges when political considerations overshadow operational realities.

Carrie Speranza, CEM, Immediate Past President of the International Association of Emergency Managers, has long emphasized that emergency management must be “grounded in operational reality and shaped by those who live the profession every day,” advocating for federal reform processes that meaningfully include SLTT practitioners and professional associations.  In her congressional testimony, Ms. Speranza stressed the critical need for federal policies that reduce unnecessary complexity, streamline decision-making, and ensure that resources reach local communities when and where they are needed most.

Strategic Implications

From the vantage point of the Unified Services Consulting Group, the cumulative effect of these events is deeply troubling. SLTT emergency managers continue doing everything they can to maintain capability, confidence, and continuity in the face of increasing hazards, rising expectations, and diminishing federal clarity. They deserve:

• Process integrity,

• Purpose-driven leadership,

• Clear statutory and operational direction, and

• Federal engagement that stabilizes—not destabilizes—the system.

Yet Gaynor’s analysis rings true: unless FEMA is empowered to return to fundamentals, re-center its mission, and operate free of politicized turbulence, the entire national emergency management system will continue to absorb unnecessary shockwaves.

Right now, unfortunately, the opposite appears to be happening.  This is very disconcerting to the highly dedicated individuals within the Emergency Management profession.

NOTES:

1: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fema-reform-outcomes-predictions-peter-t-gaynor-cem--pifbe/?trackingId=4MzJzcjK2AOZTtnVhbQv7g%3D%3D

2: https://lnkd.in/erN_tf6c

3: https://lnkd.in/ev5Se6pf

4: https://lnkd.in/eCfRkmwB

5: https://lnkd.in/eV8Z9B75

6: E-mail to Author 11 DEC 2025

#USCGLLC #FEMA #FEMAReviewCouncil #EmergencyManagement