Different outcomes for state requests
Markey (D-Mass.), ranking member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, cited the approval figures in Senate floor remarks on September 30, 2026.
An earlier Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analysis, published June 15, found that almost 54 percent of Democratic governors' disaster declaration requests had been denied in 2026. That was more than triple the historical average: Just under 18 percent of all requests had been denied since 2003.
A July decision affected four states seeking help after a February snowstorm. Trump rejected their requests for $227 million on July 3, 2026, according to POLITICO. The requests came from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Two days before those denials, he had approved FEMA disaster aid for six Republican-led states.
Payment delays and limits on mitigation funding
Carnegie also examined restrictions on FEMA spending. Under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, every FEMA payment exceeding $100,000 required her personal approval. Citing January 2026 reporting by The New York Times, the analysis said the requirement held up $17 billion in spending. Incoming DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin rescinded the policy on April 2, 2026.
Funding for disaster prevention also faced interruptions. FEMA's 2025 cancellation of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) pre-disaster mitigation program put $4.5 billion on hold after state and local jurisdictions had already competed for the money. Litigation compelled the administration to issue a new Notice of Funding Opportunity in March 2026, but BRIC became a one-time program rather than an ongoing commitment, according to Carnegie.
A separate mitigation program had gone without approvals for more than a year. As of mid-2026, governors had submitted 39 requests for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding, yet FEMA had approved none since March 2025, the analysis found.
Carnegie's assessment of the federal role
Carnegie described the emerging policy as a shift away from the post-Hurricane Katrina framework of "locally led, state managed, federally supported." Its characterization of the approach taking shape in 2026 was "locally led, state managed, and sometimes federally assisted."
