Sponsors (6)
The bill keeps disaster assistance and FEMA operations running through funding lapses—protecting people and property—but does so at continued cost to taxpayers and with reduced budgetary and administrative flexibility that could prompt interagency or legal conflicts.
State and local governments and disaster survivors continue to receive FEMA disaster assistance (individual and public assistance) during funding lapses, preserving life- and property‑protecting responses and reducing public-safety risks.
FEMA employees needed to obligate and disburse Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) payments are excepted from furloughs during lapses, maintaining staffing and program continuity for disaster response operations.
Taxpayers continue to fund DRF spending during government shutdowns, potentially increasing deficits or crowding out other expenditures because payments occur without new appropriations.
Designating more FEMA workers as excepted reduces managerial flexibility to cut costs during a lapse and may shift furlough burdens onto other agencies or programs, concentrating fiscal strain elsewhere.
Prioritizing DRF obligations during a lapse could create legal or interagency disputes over fund use and may leave other urgent programs underfunded or contested.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires FEMA to keep using available Disaster Relief Fund dollars and keep necessary staff working to provide disaster relief and recovery during any lapse in appropriations.
Requires FEMA to keep spending available Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) money and keep staff working on disaster response and recovery during any lapse in annual appropriations. It treats employees needed to carry out those DRF disbursements and related program activities as excepted under the Anti‑Deficiency Act so they may not be furloughed or subject to a reduction in force during the lapse.
Introduced October 17, 2025 by Jared Moskowitz · Last progress October 17, 2025