2026年5月7日 下午4:41 美国东部时间 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
由特朗普总统任命的联邦应急管理局改革委员会提出了对该机构的全面改革方案，该方案并未像政府此前宣称的那样彻底解散联邦应急管理局，但可能会减少联邦政府支持的救灾数量及其拨款规模。
联邦应急管理局审查委员会的报告称，“是时候翻篇联邦应急管理局的篇章了”，并辩称联邦应急管理局的品牌形象已受损，应当被一个“转型后的机构”取代，新机构将更加精简，减少以华盛顿为中心的官僚结构。
这个由特朗普任命的委员会提出了多种方案，以便本届政府将更多救灾准备、响应和恢复职责下放给各州、部落及领地政府。
该委员会提议彻底改变联邦政府确定资助哪些救灾项目、联邦应急管理局如何向各州及其他政府支付灾后恢复成本，以及救灾幸存者可获得何种联邦应急管理局援助等方面的运作模式，同时还提出了其他多项改革措施。
卡特里娜飓风过后，国会强化了联邦应急管理局的联邦协调职能。桑迪飓风过后，美国出台了多项改革，旨在加快灾后恢复进程并让援助更具灵活性。新冠疫情期间，联邦应急管理局的职责进一步扩展至疫苗接种工作。此次审查报告认为，职责的不断叠加已使联邦应急管理局偏离核心职能，催生了官僚主义、积压案件以及民众对联邦政府的过度依赖。
“这些建议的核心是加快联邦拨款流程、精简办事环节、减少官僚主义，这样美国民众才能在人生最艰难的时刻及时获得所需帮助，”委员会成员、前弗吉尼亚州州长格伦·扬金在周四的公开会议上说道，此次会议有近6000名线上参会者。
该委员会在特朗普设立该小组15个月后提交了报告，比原定的2025年11月截止日期推迟了近6个月。
各界普遍认为联邦应急管理局需要改革，以提升运作效率并摆脱官僚主义桎梏。但委员会的相关建议也引发了一些救灾专家的担忧，他们认为将职责转移可能超出部分州和地方政府、私营部门以及救灾幸存者的承受能力。
美国国土安全部部长马克韦恩·穆林表示，这份报告为他提供了“清晰的方向和对这个亟需改革但仍具备履职能力的机构的监督框架”。
相关改革建议现已提交特朗普总统，但其中多项改革需要国会通过立法方能实施。白宫尚未立即回应有关总统是否认可这些建议，以及本届政府下一步可能采取何种行动的置评请求。
委员会最重大的建议之一，是改变各州、部落和领地获得联邦援助的资格认定方式：不再采用按人均计算成本与人口的公式来决定是否提供援助，而是制定一套预先确定的灾害评估标准，一旦灾害达到相关标准即可触发联邦援助。
委员会还建议，在灾害发生后30天内向各州直接拨付资金，并可根据后续情况追加拨款，取代当前灾后恢复工作完成后再向各州报销费用的现行制度。
幸存者援助机制也将迎来重大调整：委员会提议将住房援助限定在房屋无法居住的受灾人群范围内，并向幸存者提供一次性救助金，而非目前针对租赁、修缮和重建房屋的多渠道援助。
联邦应急管理局将把幸存者援助的重点放在应急住房上，不再提供长期住房援助，并允许各州在遵守联邦标准的前提下自行运营住房救助项目。
“各州，自行制定解决方案，”委员会成员、佛罗里达州应急管理主管凯文·格思里说道，“选择最适合你们的方式。”
其他建议还包括将绝大多数洪水保险政策从负债超过200亿美元的国家洪水保险计划转移至私营保险市场，并继续推动保险保费更紧密地与风险等级挂钩。
特朗普曾威胁要解散联邦应急管理局，并多次表示希望将灾害准备、响应和恢复的更多职责转移给各州。
他任命的这个12人委员会由穆林和国防部长皮特·赫格斯瑟共同担任主席，成员来自以共和党主政的州的现任及前任官员和应急管理人员。
应急管理人员、地方领导人、参与救灾管理的非营利组织以及幸存者团体一直热切期待委员会的最终报告，原报告原定约6个月前提交，但因前国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺伊姆与委员会成员就草案内容产生分歧而推迟。
委员会表示，在起草建议方案期间，他们共审查了11708份公众意见提交材料，调查了1387名州、地方、部落和领地政府及非政府合作伙伴，与所有50个州和领地进行了沟通，在13个城市举办了听证会，并举行了四次部落专项听证会。
最终的改革建议似乎放弃了过往草案中一项最具争议的内容：将联邦应急管理局的工作人员削减50%，美联社此前曾披露过12月版本的草案中包含该建议。
在向美联社发表的一份声明中，美国全国应急管理协会的一位发言人表示，该组织“大体上支持委员会提出的总体原则，即减少联邦项目的复杂性、加快援助速度并在各级节约成本”。
一些救灾专家担忧，地方政府和非营利组织将无法填补联邦政府放权后可能出现的服务空白。例如，美国全国低收入住房联盟救灾恢复主管诺亚·帕顿表示，将幸存者援助限定在房屋无法居住的人群范围内，“将大幅加剧低收入幸存者的流离失所程度和经济不安全感”。
当被问及委员会的相关提议时，前联邦应急管理局局长克雷格·富盖特告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻：“这类报告时常会发布——真正的问题在于会有哪些改变。”
绝大多数重大改革都需要立法程序。一项联邦应急管理局改革法案去年已在众议院一个委员会通过，但尚未采取进一步行动。
前联邦应急管理局办公厅主任迈克尔·科恩告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻：“下一步应当是行政部门与国会开展协作。如果不通过立法修改相关法律，这些建议的目标无法完全实现。”他补充道，“这些建议没有一项能轻松落地。自1979年以来，联邦应急管理局一直在不断变革和完善，这项工作也将持续下去。”
帕顿表示，他怀疑议员们能否很快通过联邦应急管理局改革法案，尤其是在中期选举前时间有限的情况下，并且这些建议并非板上钉钉。
“务必牢记，这些只是建议——并非既定事实，”他说道。
本文另有多位记者对本次报道有所贡献。
Trump-appointed FEMA Review Council proposes major redesign of federal disaster response role
May 7, 2026 4:41 PM EDT / CBS/AP
A council appointed by President Trump to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency proposed a major overhaul to the agency that stops short of the administration’s vows to dismantle it, but could reduce the number of disasters the federal government supports and the amount of money it distributes.
The FEMA Review Council’s report says it is “time to close the chapter on FEMA,” arguing the FEMA brand is damaged and should be replaced by a “transformed agency” with a leaner, less Washington-centered structure.
The council, appointed by Mr. Trump, suggests ways the administration would be able to put far more responsibility on states, tribes and territories for disaster preparedness, response and recovery.
It proposes upending how the federal government determines which disasters to support, how FEMA pays states and other governments for disaster recovery costs and what kind of FEMA assistance survivors receive, among other reforms.
After Hurricane Katrina, Congress strengthened FEMA’s federal coordination role. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, reforms were made in an effort to speed up the recovery process and make assistance more flexible. During the coronavirus pandemic, FEMA’s mission expanded even further to include vaccination. This review argues that the accumulation of missions has pulled FEMA away from its core role and created bureaucracy, backlog and too much dependency on the federal government.
“These recommendations are all about accelerating federal dollars, streamlining the process, making it less bureaucratic so that Americans can get the help they need on the worst day of their lives,” former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a council member, said in a public meeting Thursday with nearly 6,000 virtual attendees.
The council submitted its report 15 months after Mr. Trump created the panel and nearly six months after its original November 2025 deadline.
There is broad agreement that FEMA needs reforms to move faster and relieve bureaucracy. But the council’s recommendations raise concerns among some disaster experts that shifting responsibilities will be more than some state and local governments, the private sector or survivors can handle.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the report offered him “a clear direction and an oversight of an agency that is in need of reform, but is still mission capable.”
The recommendations will now be sent to Mr. Trump, though many of the reforms would require congressional action. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether the president endorses the recommendations or what actions the administration might take next.
Among the council’s most significant recommendations involves changing how states, tribes, and territories qualify for federal support from a decision informed by a per-capita formula that weighs costs against population to a pre-defined set of metrics for a disaster to trigger federal support.
It also recommended giving states direct payments within 30 days of a disaster, with a potential for another payment further down the line, replacing the current system of reimbursing states after recovery work is done.
Survivors’ assistance would be upended, too: The council proposed limiting housing assistance to those whose homes are rendered uninhabitable and offering survivors a one-time payment instead of multiple avenues for rental, repair, and replacement assistance.
FEMA would focus its survivor aid on emergency housing, moving away from long-term housing assistance and giving states the option to run their own housing programs while adhering to federal standards.
“States, figure it out,” said council member and Florida emergency management director Kevin Guthrie. “Do what’s best for you.”
Other recommendations include shifting most flood insurance policies away from the National Flood Insurance Program, which is over $20 billion in debt, to the private market, and continuing to align premium costs more closely with risk.
Mr. Trump has threatened to dismantle FEMA and has repeatedly said he wants to push more responsibility for disaster preparedness, response and recovery to the states.
The 12-person council he appointed is co-chaired by Mullin and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It is made up of current and former officials and emergency managers from predominantly Republican-led states.
Emergency managers, local leaders, nonprofits involved with disaster management and survivor groups have anxiously awaited the council’s findings, which were due roughly six months ago but were delayed as former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and council members clashed over drafts.
The council says that in compiling its recommendations, it reviewed 11,708 public submissions, surveyed 1,387 state, local, tribal and territorial governmental and nongovernmental partners, engaged all 50 states and territories, held listening sessions in 13 cities, and held four tribal listening sessions.
The final recommendations seemed to move away from at least one of the most controversial reforms included in past drafts: Cutting the FEMA workforce by 50%, a recommendation included in a December draft reviewed by The Associated Press.
In a statement to The Associated Press, a spokesperson for The National Emergency Management Association said the group “broadly supports the overarching principles outlined by the council of less complexity in federal programs, faster assistance, and cost savings at all levels.”
Some disaster experts worry local governments and nonprofits won’t be able to fill in potential voids left by a federal pullback. Limiting survivor aid to those whose houses are uninhabitable, for example, “would dramatically increase the level of displacement and economic insecurity” for low-income survivors, said Noah Patton, director of disaster recovery at the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.
Asked about the council’s proposal, former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told CBS News, “Reports are often issued — what changes is the question.”
Most major changes would require legislative action. A FEMA reform act passed out of a House committee last year, but no further action has been taken.
Former FEMA chief of staff Michael Coen told CBS News, “The next step should be collaboration between the executive branch and Congress. The goals of these recommendations can’t fully be implemented without legislative statutory changes.” He added that “none of these recommendations will be easy to implement. FEMA has been changing and improving since 1979 and the work continues.”
Patton said he was skeptical that lawmakers could pass FEMA reform soon, especially with limited time before the midterm elections, and said the recommendations are not a foregone conclusion.
“It is important to remember that these are suggestions — they aren’t set in stone,” he said.
contributed to this report.
