What a shutdown would mean for FEMA resources amid lingering North Carolina storm damage

A federal government shutdown in the coming days could have implications for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) long-term efforts, but would likely have little effect on the agency's ground-level emergency response work.

For activities like FEMA's response to Hurricane Helene, whose devastating effects are still being felt in North Carolina, the agency relies on the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which is a “no-year fund” that is available for as long as it takes to spend rather than being beholden to fiscal years. That means the fund would not be immediately impacted if Congress fails to reach an agreement to fund the federal government by the weekend deadline.

“They’re not going to stop emergency work—FEMA has authority to continue providing emergency lifesaving measures even during a shutdown,” said Erin Greten, of counsel for the firm Baker Donelson, who wrote a brief on shutdowns’ effects on FEMA in September.

“It’s not like they’re just going to walk away, they’ll continue to perform their mission,” Greten said. 

However, she added, a government shutdown would hamper FEMA efforts if the agency is forced to implement immediate-needs funding and essentially triage spending, The agency must implement immediate-needs funding guidance, which prioritizes lifesaving operations, when funding will not cover all activity. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned during this year’s hurricane season that the amount of money in the DRF was insufficient to continue responding to new disasters without a supplemental funding bill.

“As long as they still have funding in the Disaster Relief Fund, they can continue to fund disaster relief operations, but they need a supplement to add more funds to it,” Greten said.

There’s no telling how long a potential shutdown could last, but in calling for the initial spending deal reached by lawmakers to be rejected this week, Elon Musk endorsed the idea of shutting down the government until President-elect Trump’s inauguration. That period would include the Jan. 7 application deadline FEMA announced for Helene aid in November. The Hill has reached out to FEMA’s region 4, which includes western North Carolina, for clarification on how a shutdown could affect the deadline.

After Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reached a deal with congressional leaders for a funding bill earlier in the week, both Musk and Trump called for Republicans to vote against it, leading Johnson to pull the bill and introduce an alternate plan, which also failed Thursday night despite Trump’s endorsement. That bill included $110 billion in disaster and agricultural aid.

Trump has also demanded that a funding bill include an increase to the federal debt limit, which would have been suspended for two years under the failed Thursday night bill.

With just hours to go until the shutdown deadline, House Republicans are eying a plan C to fund the government and allocate disaster relief.