I will oppose any effort to weaken FEMA’s mission or shift Federal disaster responsibilities onto communities that too often do not have the resources to respond and recover on their own.
Oppose any effort to weaken FEMA's mission or shift federal disaster responsibilities onto states and local communities.
Occurrences
Evidence
Introduced by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson on February 3, 2026. The resolution states that FEMA's mission is to help people before, during, and after disasters, condemns current and proposed FEMA workforce reductions, denounces cuts that would weaken preparedness and response, and commits to supporting a stable, adequately resourced FEMA workforce.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson introduced H.R.4579 to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to mitigate cybersecurity risks by FEMA. The bill was referred to committee and remained at the introduced stage in the available record.
Thompson said the FEMA Review Council report would weaken FEMA, shift unfunded disaster responsibilities to states and local communities, and that he would oppose efforts to weaken FEMA's mission or shift federal disaster responsibilities.
Thompson and Kennedy asked GAO to investigate FEMA disaster declaration decisions, warning that recent denials could hurt rural, small-state, and underserved communities that rely on federal disaster aid.
Assessments
Thompson made repeated official and concrete opposition to FEMA weakening and state-shifting proposals through public statements, a House resolution, and an oversight request. Because the promise was to oppose such efforts, those actions satisfy the pledge even though the cited measures were not enacted.
Thompson publicly opposed FEMA weakening and state-shifting proposals, introduced a resolution condemning cuts that would weaken FEMA, and sought a GAO investigation into politicized disaster declarations. Those are direct, material actions consistent with the promise to oppose efforts to weaken FEMA's mission, even though no enacted policy change is shown.
Thompson made direct federal legislative efforts consistent with the promise, including sponsoring H.Res.1035 opposing FEMA workforce reductions and related cuts, and H.R.4579 to strengthen FEMA cybersecurity capacity. However, the available record shows these measures remained at the introduced/referred stage and did not enact or otherwise complete the promised outcome of preventing efforts to weaken FEMA or shift disaster responsibilities to states and localities. Because there was a serious attempt but no delivered policy result, this is not fulfilled, with an effort badge.