Survivors of 2025 natural disasters in California, Missouri, and Texas face ongoing delays as more than $10 billion in long-term federal recovery funds remains unallocated. Because HUD's CDBG-DR program lacks permanent funding, Congress must appropriate money on a per-disaster basis—a hurdle no post-2024 disaster has overcome. Meanwhile, internal FEMA memos outline plans to shift recovery responsibilities to states and decentralize federal staff out of Washington.
Delays in CDBG-DR disaster recovery funding
- ▪Survivors of 2025 natural disasters, including the May 2025 EF3 tornado in St. Louis, Texas Hill Country flooding, and Los Angeles wildfires, have not received Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds.
- ▪The last natural disaster for which the Department of Housing and Urban Development disbursed CDBG-DR long-term recovery funds was Hurricane Milton, which struck Florida in October 2024.
- ▪The United States federal government requires more than $10 billion in long-term disaster recovery funding to rebuild affected communities in Los Angeles County, California, and St. Louis, Missouri.
Congressional funding structure for CDBG-DR
- ▪The CDBG-DR program lacks a permanent standing fund, requiring Congress to pass specific disaster-by-disaster appropriations before funds can be allocated to affected communities.
- ▪Although Congress authorized CDBG-DR for three years in July 2026, lawmakers have not appropriated new funds for the disaster recovery program.
Rebuild survivor network
- ▪Rebuild co-founder Ginny Goldman stated that the disaster survivor organization includes members from both major political parties as well as rural and urban areas.
- ▪Disaster survivors associated with Rebuild: the National Disaster Survivors Association made three lobbying trips to Washington, D.C., to urge lawmakers to appropriate long-term recovery funds for CDBG-DR.
Disaster recovery initiatives by Representative Judy Chu
- ▪Following a request from Representative Judy Chu and three other lawmakers, FEMA released $6.6 million in final Disaster Case Management Program funding for Eaton and Palisades Fire survivors on October 7, 2026.
- ▪Representative Judy Chu co-sponsored the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act, which would establish a permanent disaster recovery fund to disburse federal assistance without requiring individual congressional action for each disaster.
- ▪Representative Judy Chu called on President Donald Trump to fund California Governor Gavin Newsom's disaster supplemental request to deliver CDBG-DR funding to working-class and Black homeowners in Altadena.
Trump administration disaster relief
- ▪Representative Judy Chu stated in September 2026 that President Donald Trump had failed to deliver long-term federal disaster recovery funding for Los Angeles communities.
- ▪President Donald Trump denied federal disaster aid requests from multiple Democratic-led states while approving disaster aid for Republican-led states in 2025 and summer 2026.
CDBG-DR program history
- ▪Survivors of the 2020 earthquakes in Puerto Rico waited 655 days after the official disaster declaration for CDBG-DR funding to be allocated, according to a Bipartisan Policy Center report.
- ▪More than $111 billion has been appropriated and allocated for the federal CDBG-DR program since 1993.
Internal FEMA memo on agency reforms
- ▪An internal FEMA memo dated October 15, 2026, states that the agency plans to reduce centralization in Washington, D.C., by deploying regional and field teams closer to disaster survivors and local officials.
- ▪In an October 15, 2026 internal memo, FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton outlined plans to reduce state and local reliance on federal disaster assistance by strengthening state emergency management capabilities.
United States disaster exposure
- ▪According to an International Institute for Environment and Development analysis, 137 million people in the United States lived in areas affected by natural disasters in 2024.
- ▪A 2023 nationwide Federal Emergency Management Agency survey found that 54 percent of respondents or their family members had experienced the effects of a disaster.
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