What happened
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been criticized for its open-ended mission statement, which includes the word "help" and has led to federal overreach and bureaucratic bloat. The agency's mission statement, "Helping people before, during and after disasters," is seen as too broad and has allowed FEMA to intervene in state and local responsibilities. This has resulted in a "pile-on sport" of disaster recovery and response, with aimless and uncoordinated actions.
The number of major disaster declarations has increased from about 25 a year in FEMA's first decade to over 60 today, with the agency being handed missions that have nothing to do with hurricanes, such as migrant surges and the pandemic. The lack of clear boundaries has led to thousands of bureaucrats living in hotels across the country, collecting per diem for months and years on end.
A former senior official at FEMA has proposed a revised mission statement that would provide assistance to state and local authorities only when they are overwhelmed by disasters. This statement would imply a more defined and quantifiable role for the agency, rather than the broad and open-ended concept of "help".
