White House officials abruptly postpone final meeting of Trump-created FEMA task force

By Gabe Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — White House officials abruptly postponed the final meeting of a Trump-created task force charged with shaping the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, roughly two hours before it was set to begin on Thursday, according to three sources familiar with the decision.

Members of the FEMA Review Council, all appointed by the Trump administration, had been expected to vote on a final draft report recommending sweeping changes to FEMA, before sending it to the president for review. But in recent days, White House officials reviewed the report and objected to its recommendations, arguing it lacked sufficient procedural changes that could be implemented before the end of Trump’s term, two sources said.

One White House official told CNN that the meeting was cancelled “because White House officials had not been fully briefed on the latest draft of the report, despite some officials at DHS thinking they had been.”

Efforts to halt the meeting escalated Wednesday night, according to a source, coinciding with CNN’s exclusive reporting on the council’s recommendations, which included proposals to cut FEMA’s workforce in half, rename the agency, shift most disaster aid to a block grant system, and raise the threshold for states to qualify for disaster assistance. The proposal did not include a plan to eliminate the agency, as President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, have repeatedly vowed to do.

Trump, who will ultimately decide whether to implement the proposed changes, has not commented on the council’s proposal.

Noem, who co-chairs the FEMA Review Council, pushed back against the White House’s concerns and attempted to move forward with the meeting, the source said. By noon Thursday, however, the White House had overruled her and postponed it. Noem appeared unaware of the cancellation when, minutes after the meeting was postponed, she told a House committee — where she was testifying — that she needed to leave early to co-chair the FEMA council meeting.

Noem told lawmakers “I have to actually leave this hearing early, because the FEMA review Council is giving their report today on suggestions for changes to FEMA. I have to co-chair it. I will be leaving soon to have to go do that.”

The first indication for DHS that the meeting had been canceled came Thursday morning, when staff for the review council showed up at the White House, where the meeting was set to be held, and found out their access to the offices had been cut off. Only then were they officially informed that the White House had called off the meeting.

At the same time, several council members preparing to head over were urgently told to stand down.

The full council had met behind closed doors with DHS officials on Wednesday to finalize the report for Thursday’s session, allowing members to make last-minute additions or raise concerns. A source told CNN there was no indication that any members planned to oppose moving the report forward.

DHS, seemingly blindsided by the decision, referred questions about the cancelation to the White House.

The long-awaited report that was supposed to be voted on Thursday is the product of months of closed-door debate and political wrangling. Perhaps the most contentious recommendation is to keep FEMA under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security.

Several agency veterans, state officials, and even some council members argued that FEMA should have greater independence. Public comments also overwhelmingly favored an independent FEMA, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.

But Noem, who co-chairs the council and opposed moving FEMA, prevailed. The final report recommends leaving FEMA under DHS, which would preserve Noem’s influence over its $25 billion budget.

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