MedPage Today October 17, 2025
‘That’s one disaster away from being broke,’ a former FEMA official noted
The continuing federal government shutdown and cuts to the CDC mean that the U.S. may not be prepared for the next natural disaster, experts said Friday.
“Every additional day this shutdown goes on, our communities are growing more at risk of a major disaster,” Rafael Lemaitre, former director of public affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said during a press conference sponsored by Defend America Action.
He noted that the Disaster Relief Fund — a pot of money that FEMA pulls from to fund immediate needs after a disaster — normally has around $22 billion in it, “but right now, it’s under $3 billion. That’s one...
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