Sponsors (14)
The bill quickly restores FEMA staff pay/benefits and restarts mitigation projects to preserve disaster-response capacity and community resilience, but it does so at increased near-term federal cost and with limits on FEMA's flexibility that may strain operations during the transition.
Federal employees who were involuntarily separated between Jan 20, 2025 and enactment can return to their FEMA jobs, restoring pay and benefits and preserving experienced staff that help maintain disaster-response capacity for communities.
State and local governments can immediately resume funded BRIC and FMA mitigation projects, speeding up flood and resilience construction that protects infrastructure and communities.
Maintaining preparedness programs and continuity of mitigation grants preserves federal support for extreme-weather readiness, improving public safety during storms, wildfires, and other disasters.
Rapid, mandated reinstatements and immediate resumption of projects could strain FEMA's administrative capacity and disrupt ongoing disaster responses during the transition, potentially slowing assistance to affected communities.
Taxpayers may face additional payroll, benefit, and continued program spending obligations to reinstate separated employees and resume mitigation projects.
The reinstatement and program-locking provisions reduce FEMA's flexibility to reassign positions, restructure staffing, or reallocate funds to emergent hazards or more cost-effective approaches, complicating workforce planning and prioritization.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires FEMA to reinstate specified involuntarily separated employees and to continue and carry out previously funded BRIC and FMA projects, using available FEMA funds.
Official title: To require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to use appropriated funds to restore agency staffing levels, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 19, 2025 by Greg Casar · Last progress August 19, 2025
Requires FEMA to reinstate any individual who was involuntarily separated from a FEMA position between January 20, 2025 and the date of enactment if that person elects reinstatement, and directs FEMA to use available funds for those reinstatements within 30 days. Directs FEMA not to narrow or cut access to congressionally mandated preparedness and mitigation programs and to immediately reinstate and carry out previously funded projects under the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) programs.