The second meeting of the FEMA Review Council has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, at 3pm ET / 2pm CT per Docket No. DHS–2025–0026.   The meeting will consist of (1) Remarks and updates from Council leadership; (2) Open panel discussion. The public may attend the meeting virtually.  To attend, please email FEMAreviewcouncil@hq.dhs.gov before 7/8 at 5pm ET with your full legal name and email address. To submit public comments, you may also email FEMAreviewcouncil@hq.dhs.gov with Docket No. DHS-2025-0026 in the subject line of the message.

The inaugural FEMA Review Council meeting was held on May 20 and hosted by DHS Secretary Noem and Deputy Secretary of Defense Feinburg.  A recording of the first meeting may be viewed online.

Prior to this first meeting, the FEMA Review Council sought “potential programmatic and organization improvements to FEMA” through a Request for Information (RFI) entitled “Request for Public Input on Experiences With FEMA Disaster Responses.”  This RFI closed on May 15 and received 11,708 comments in total.  All comments can be reviewed online.

Major trade associations provided input, including the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR wrote, “Let’s Reform NFIP, Strengthen FEMA Programs.”  Voicing support for NFIP, NAR affirmed that the program is critical to real estate markets and the U.S. economy.  However, NAR highlighteed that “reforms are urgently needed.”  NAR’s reform priorities “include improving flood-risk mapping, enhancing public risk communication and mitigation efforts, addressing the program’s mounting debt and risk concentration, and encouraging a competitive private flood insurance market. These reforms would not only ensure the program’s solvency but also expand coverage options and affordability for homeowners in flood-prone areas.”