Dear Nonprofit Security Friends,

The following is an overview of breaking news regarding FEMA reforms, a refresher on the FY 2026 appropriations, and a summary of recent faith-based threat prosecutions.

I. Breaking News: Details about FEMA reorganization plans emerge:

The Associated Press (AP) has provided a detailed accounting of a draft (preliminary) report on FEMA reforms. The implications of administration interference are startling and worrying.

Apparently, the report was “slashed and amended by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s office,” from 160 pages to merely 20.

Moreover, many of the recommendations made by an appointed review council of primarily Republican appointees of the president, to strengthen FEMA were nixed. The President created the review council by executive order on January 24, the same day he proposed “ getting rid of ” FEMA, the AP reported.

As further reported, “[FEMA] former officials said that cutting some of the original recommendations and adding others that further diminish FEMA will not only show that the administration is intervening politically in a professional undertaking. They said the changed recommendations could ultimately leave states and other governments unequipped to prepare for or recover from disasters.”

[I note: The intent of the executive order is “to address serious concerns of political bias in FEMA” through a “full-scale review, by individuals highly experienced at effective disaster response and recovery, who shall recommend to the President improvements or structural changes to promote the national interest and enable national resilience.” The apparent countervailing changes Secretary Noem would impose would pervert the order’s intent. (The Executive Order may be read at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/council-to-assess-the-federal-emergency-management-agency/)]

With respect to NSGP, the article reported that “the new draft removes any mention of mitigation programs and slashes preparedness dollars for local emergency management agencies.” (Emphasis added) NSGP would fall into this category of preparedness programs.

The final report is expected to be published in mid-December. I will certainly track and report out the specifics when the final report is published. I hope that in the interim, an “oversight” spotlight will be placed on the DHS maneuvers to subvert the Council’s recommendations.

The AP reporting can be read in its entirety at: https://apnews.com/article/fema-review-council-kristi-noem-trump-disasters-22274e65fad13b9e3005e302bcce9cbb.

II. Fiscal Year 2026 spending status refresher:

For the first time since the government shuttered on September 30, House and Senate appropriations leaders met. With a short term Continuing Resolution (CR) passed to reopen the government, they (Congress) have a January 30th deadline to pass the FY 2026 spending bills.

The CR included full year funding for 3 of the 12 bills considered the least controversial: Agriculture, Legislative Branch and Military Construction-VA.

Reaching a conclusion could take several paths.

Presently, Senate Republican leaders would like to bring up a package featuring two of the largest spending bills, Defense and Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, and possibly Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD. Their House counterparts would prefer to bring up a smaller package they believe would be easier to pass.

One of the impasses to advancing any of the bills is the lack of an agreement reached on a top-line spending level and the determination of spending limits for each remaining bill. This typically requires bipartisan agreement.

Also in question are the 4 remaining bills the Senate appropriations Committee has yet to release — Energy-Water, Financial Services, State-Foreign Operations, and Homeland Security, which funds NSGP.

Intraparty concerns among Senate Republicans have led to the placement of a number of holds on advancing the spending bills. Some object to the overall spending level of the large package being floated, and some are opposed to combining multiple bills into one big bundle (aka minibus), which would require unanimous consent of all senators.

With respect to securing bipartisan cooperation, the Senate minority has withheld their support in exchange for the inclusion of protections in FY 2026 spending bills that the majority opposes*. They object to the administration’s practice of freezing funds that Congress has appropriated for various programs, the administration’s lack of transparency in its spending decisions, the administration’s use the Office of Management and Budget’s “apportionment process” as a tool for political control rather than as Congress intended, and generally the administration’s undermining or Congress’s exclusive ability to tax, borrow, and spend public money for the national government.

These objections could be a roadblock to the minority’s support for spending bills going forward.

* In July, one lone House Republican, Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (FL), who is the vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, attempted to include a provision to limit the administration’s use of the controversial “pocket rescission” the president has used to withhold money already appropriated by Congress. This attempt was quickly squashed after the Office of Management and Budget’s director, Russell Vought, intervened in opposition. (See: https://www.notus.org/congress/mario-diaz-balart-trump-rescissions-appropriations)

[Note: As I have illustrated in several previous blog posts, how such interference has negatively impacted the NSGP program. Just this morning, I received the following inquiry from a professional security consultant: “FEMA seems to have suspended all budget reallocation and scope of change requests.” They wanted to know whether the freeze was temporary and if I knew when it might be lifted. My response was that there is no flow of information or known contacts at FEMA who would address this inquiry, and I advised (with my now common refrain) that the State Administrative Agencies are the appropriate (if only viable) points of contact for stakeholders to receive grant guidance. The SAAs presumably have direct contact with FEMA].

III. Threats to houses of worship persist:

The May 21, 2025, deadly shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C and the June 1, 2025, deadly attack on an Israel solidarity group on the Boulder, Colorado “Mall” have epitomized the extreme level and geographic dispersion of threats facing faith-based communities, their people, and institutions.

Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases. The following are headlines regarding the prosecution of threats since September 19th. The full reporting will be included within my updated Threat Chronology grant guidance I will post this evening to: https://spherestate.com/insights/tag/paid/?pcategory=nsgp-program-guidance-resources):

• “Leader of the “Maniac Murder Cult” Recruited Others to Bomb and Poison the Jewish Community and Racial Minorities” (Source: DOJ, Office of Public Affairs)
• “Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Mailing Threatening Communications to at least 40 Jewish Institutions and Civil Rights Violations” (Source: DOJ, Office of Public Affairs)
• “Arizona Man Sentenced for Bomb Plot Targeting Christian Churches” (Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California)
• “Michigan suspects charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and having firearms that would be used to commit an act of terrorism [“American Jewish Center“] on behalf of ISIS” (Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan)
• “Kentucky Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge for Damaging Church Statues” 2025 (Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Kentucky)
• “Arizona Man Sentenced To 49 Months In Prison For Sending 1,000 Antisemitic Death Threats” (Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York)
• “New York Man Sentenced To 17 Months In Prison For Hate Crimes After Repeatedly Assaulting Jewish Victims at Pro-Israel Events” (Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York)
• “The FBI continues investigating the horrific attack on innocent victims at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc. MI” (Source: FBI Detroit Field Office)
• “Florida Man Charged in Arson of Jewish Center” (Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida)
• “Two Texas individuals charged for firebombing Buddhist temple” (Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas)

Best,

Rob Goldberg
Principal
Goldberg and Associates, LLC
In partnership with Sphere State