FEMA provides funds to governments and individuals to rebuild after natural disasters, but Trump has criticized it for being too slow and costly.

Governors and state legislatures may have to bolster their natural disaster response and recovery efforts in the coming years as President Donald Trump looks for ways to shift the federal government’s role onto states.

The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrote to staff reassuring them that the agency's continued existence was vital to the country's disaster response efforts, after President Donald Trump said he wanted to overhaul or scrap it.

They registered for FEMA assistance, but got a letter of non-approval. After a 90-minute call to the agency’s helpline and a long day at a FEMA recovery center, they learned they needed more insurance documents. But their insurance agent’s office also burned down. Now they have the documents, but can’t figure out how to upload them to FEMA.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is backing a variety of play calls President Trump made in his first week in office, including a decision to fire government watchdogs across most Cabinet-level departments.

The agency was created in the late 1970s and is tasked with helping states and communities impacted by disasters nationwide.

Trump said FEMA "is going to be a whole big discussion" in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Wednesday.

In the first official trip of his second term, Trump also threatened to withhold disaster aid to California unless the state enacts a voter ID law.

President Donald Trump has begun his second administration with a series of controversial moves and decisions.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a blizzard of executive orders and taken other actions since his inauguration on Jan. 20 to remake and reduce the size of America's 2.2 million-strong federal workforce.

The deadline to seek aid from FEMA is Feb. 7, yet many in Jefferson County remain displaced and struggling to recover.