Kristi Noem, DHS Secretary | official facebook
FEMA has announced the distribution of nearly $3.5 billion in non-disaster grant funding to support emergency preparedness across the United States. The funds are intended to help state and local governments prepare for a range of emergencies, including fires, floods, tornadoes, cyber incidents, and terrorist attacks.
According to Secretary Noem, the agency is working to make FEMA more responsive by focusing on supporting state-level disaster relief efforts rather than maintaining what was described as "bloated, DC-centric dead weight." The aim is to enable states and localities to better manage their own emergency response and recovery operations.
The grants will allow communities to hire and train firefighters and first responders, plan for potential cyber disruptions, protect critical infrastructure such as ports and transportation systems, enhance security at churches and other nonprofit organizations, implement public warning systems, and take steps to guard against terrorist threats and transnational crime.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: “Secretary Noem is empowering state and local leaders over Washington bureaucrats. The Biden administration used FEMA as its own personal piggy bank to fund far-left radical organizations, house criminal illegal aliens, and support pseudo-science. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, it is no longer open season the American taxpayer at DHS. The Trump administration is draining the swamp, restoring accountability for FEMA, and putting Americans FIRST in disaster response.”
DHS and FEMA reviewed all grant programs with an emphasis on preventing waste or misuse of federal funds. The review process aimed to ensure that resources are directed toward strengthening national resilience.
The agency stated that under current policy recipients cannot use these grants for housing unauthorized immigrants in luxury hotels or funding projects unrelated to core emergency preparedness objectives.
Among the grant programs awarded this month are those focused on firefighting (Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program), cybersecurity (State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program), transit security (Transit Security Grant Program), port security (Port Security Grant Program), tribal homeland security needs (Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program), urban search and rescue operations (National Urban Search and Rescue Response System), earthquake hazard reduction (National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program), dam safety (National Dam Safety Program), targeted violence prevention (Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program), among others.
Further details about these programs can be found at FEMA's website: https://www.fema.gov/grants.
