The Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council’s long-overdue report on the fate of the agency is scheduled for release next week. But in case you missed it, news broke recently — via a leaked draft of the report obtained by The New York Times — that the council recommended preserving the agency, rather than making it “go away,” as requested by Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Per a January executive order, the report was supposed to be released on November 16, which was “within 180 days of the date of the Council’s first public meeting.” That deadline was apparently extended because the draft report’s content allegedly did not meet the administration’s approval. According to The New York Times, the draft proposed changes included restoring FEMA to a cabinet-level agency that reports directly to the president — a status it held before 2003 — and speeding up the distribution of aid to states. This latter recommendation was the outcome of a nationwide survey conducted by the council’s Federal-State Coordination Subcommittee. Based on 1,300 responses from states, territories, and tribes, the survey resulted in five recommendations: expedite the flow of federal resources to communities, boost local and regional preparedness, protect and update the nation’s key emergency capabilities, build up regional resilience, and integrate and unify a national resilience network.

According to the Times, Noem is in the process of reducing the 100-page draft report to 20 pages. As previously noted, the official report is not out until next week, and its contents may differ. But it’s worth noting that Trump and Noem thought they were stacking the deck by appointing mostly Republicans to the council, including former and current governors of Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia, as well as Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee. However, the Trump administration appears to misunderstand a fundamental aspect of FEMA.

Yes, the agency has many flaws. The response to Hurricane Katrina is the best-known failure of the federal government in responding to a catastrophic event. But there are more recent criticisms – such as the difficulty that smaller, rural governments face in applying for grants, or the length of time it takes to provide cash aid to those who successfully complete applications. These are the types of flaws the review council and others have urged the federal government to address. That’s because there is bipartisan support for federal disaster and mitigation assistance. Just this last July, leaders from both parties of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure introduced a bill in Congress aimed at these very issues, including making FEMA a cabinet-level agency.

FEMA’s status among officials and the public stems not from the agency being beloved, but because its services are necessary. When an agency like FEMA provides a critical service but is itself flawed, we should fix it rather than dismantle it. Trump and Noem don’t appear to understand this, and their alleged efforts to undermine their own review council demonstrate a willingness to prioritize political goals over what’s actually needed to save lives. Political games or some strict, abstract ideology shouldn’t be a barrier to the nation’s safety, especially when it means ignoring the practical need for a strong, functional, and well-funded FEMA.

The choice facing the administration is not between a flawless agency and no agency; it is between fixing a critical service essential to every state and abandoning communities to disaster for the sake of political expediency.

This first ran on CEPR.

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