FEMA provides funds to governments and individuals to rebuild after natural disasters, but Trump has criticized it for being too slow and costly.

Governors and state legislatures may have to bolster their natural disaster response and recovery efforts in the coming years as President Donald Trump looks for ways to shift the federal government’s role onto states.

They registered for FEMA assistance, but got a letter of non-approval. After a 90-minute call to the agency’s helpline and a long day at a FEMA recovery center, they learned they needed more insurance documents. But their insurance agent’s office also burned down. Now they have the documents, but can’t figure out how to upload them to FEMA.

The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrote to staff reassuring them that the agency's continued existence was vital to the country's disaster response efforts, after President Donald Trump said he wanted to overhaul or scrap it.

National Guard soldiers, FEMA employees and aid workers unload ... (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Ahead of a tour of two states recently struck by natural disasters, President Donald Trump ...

House Speaker Mike Johnson is backing a variety of play calls President Trump made in his first week in office, including a decision to fire government watchdogs across most Cabinet-level departments.

On Friday, the president floated the idea of abolishing FEMA while visiting Asheville, North Carolina, which is still suffering from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene in September.

Presidents fully control FEMA aid. The operative word in federal disaster law is “may,” as in: “The President may make contributions to a State or local government for the repair, restoration, reconstruction or replacement of a public facility damaged or destroyed by a major disaster.”

The deadline to seek aid from FEMA is Feb. 7, yet many in Jefferson County remain displaced and struggling to recover.

The Trump administration today rescinded its Monday memo that had implemented a sweeping freeze on vast swaths of federal aid, after a federal judge put a temporary block on the action Tuesday.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz was in Washington, D.C. Wednesday night for a meeting with fellow county executive leaders to discuss issues associated with FEMA.