In a report accompanying a fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, House and Senate appropriators are demanding answers about the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and warning the Administration against the massive layoffs and reorganization the president is reportedly considering.
Report language is not binding, but it is as clear an indication of congressional intent as can be found in the legislative process, the American Public Power Association noted.
The bill, H.R. 7148, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, was agreed to by House and Senate Republican and Democratic leaders of the Appropriations Committees and released earlier this week. It is expected to come to a vote by the full House this week.
Overall, the bill would increase FEMA funding by $4.7 billion – up from $32 billion – for fiscal year 2026, which began on October 1, 2025. The total includes $26.4 billion for the disaster relief fund – roughly in line with the levels the Trump administration and congressional appropriators proposed last year.
The report states that FEMA “shall maintain staffing levels, including a reservist workforce and its Cadre of Response/Recovery Employees, necessary to fulfill the missions required under the Homeland Security Act.”
It also states, in relation to the President’s FEMA Review Council, that “FEMA shall not implement an elimination or reorganization plan for the Agency or any proposal to inhibit the performance of the Agency's functions and activities funded by this Act without an act of Congress permitting such measures.”
The report is also demanding answers, including language telling FEMA to report to the Appropriations Committees on:
• The status of hazard mitigation grants,
• The status of Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grants;
• The specific rationale used to cancel BRIC grants and the effect of those terminations; and
• The rationale for disaster declarations and denials in the last year.
The report comes as the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee works to build support for H.R. 4669, the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025. It also focuses on fixing FEMA and is staunchly supported by APPA.
APPA is asking its members to reach out to their congressional delegations in the House to join in cosigning a letter to House leaders in support of H.R. 4669.
Conferenced House Minibus Would Include Funding for LIHEAP, Drones
On January 20, the House Appropriations Committee released the conferenced version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026.
This is the latest “minibus” appropriations vehicle which would provide appropriations for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, and Health and Human Services (Labor-HHS), Education, and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.
HHS/LIHEAP
The package would fund HHS at nearly $117 billion, an increase of $210 million over FY 2025 levels. This funding level would include a $20 million increase for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which would bring the total amount appropriated for LIHEAP for FY 2026 to $4.045 billion. On November 28, HHS released the customary 90 percent of LIHEAP funds up front to states for assistance with winter heating costs.
Should the minibus be signed into law, the additional $20 million would be disbursed to states along with the remaining 10 percent of LIHEAP funds in the spring.
The legislation would also retain language protecting each grantee from receiving less than 97 percent of the funds they did from the previous year. The legislation’s explanatory statement includes language that supports maintaining adequate LIHEAP staffing levels at HHS’s Administration for Children and Families.
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS/Drones)
The T-HUD portion of the minibus would allocate $10 million for the Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant Program.
This program is administered by the Department of Transportation to fund the use of UAS for inspecting, maintaining, and constructing critical public infrastructure, which encompasses essential physical systems that support utilities and core public services.
This includes energy infrastructure like substations, transmission systems, dams, and key telecommunications assets.
