As Government Shutdown Enters Its Seventeenth Day, Moskowitz Introduces Legislation to Maintain Payments Under FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund During Federal Shutdowns

WASHINGTON, DC — As the federal government shutdown enters its seventeenth day, Congressmen Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) and Troy Carter (D-LA-02), co-Chairs of the Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Caucus, announced that they will introduce their Federal Emergency Management Continuity Act today. The bill would require that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continue to obligate and disperse Disaster Relief Funding during this and any future federal government shutdowns.

Under the bill, resources available in the Disaster Relief Fund would continue to be obligated and dispersed for covered programs during any lapse in federal appropriations. Employees necessary to carry out such disbursements would not be subject to furlough or reduction in force due to a shutdown.

Appropriations made under the Disaster Relief Fund allow FEMA to support eligible response and recovery efforts associated with domestic major disasters and emergencies, as directed by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Management Act.

“During a government shutdown, communities hit by disaster shouldn’t have to worry that the resources they’re counting on to recover will go undelivered,” said Congressman Moskowitz. “With this bill, families and businesses can have confidence that the funds they were promised will still be on their way, no matter what’s happening in Washington. Their recovery shouldn’t risk being put on hold just because Congress can’t do its job.”

“I’m proud to support this critical legislation that ensures FEMA will continue delivering vital disaster relief and recovery assistance without interruption — even during government shutdowns. Natural disasters and emergencies don’t wait for politics, and neither should our response. This bill safeguards the continuity of essential operations and protects the dedicated FEMA employees who make disaster recovery and response possible, ensuring that communities in crisis continue to receive assistance despite dysfunction in Congress,” said Congressman Carter.

Before entering Congress, Moskowitz served as Florida’s Director of Emergency Management from 2019-2021. In this role, Moskowitz oversaw disaster response and recovery for the DeSantis Administration for major events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Category 5 Hurricane Michael.

Since coming to Congress, Moskowitz has been a leading voice for fully funding FEMA, keeping emergency response nonpartisan, and enacting commonsense reforms to bolster federal emergency management. His bipartisan FEMA Independence Act would remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security and reinstate it as an independent, Cabinet-level agency reporting directly to the President, and his bipartisan Disaster Housing Flexibility Act and Disaster Response Flexibility Act would give states more flexibility to quickly deploy resources to communities in need.

For more information on the Federal Emergency Management Continuity Act from Moskowitz and Carter, click HERE.

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