Dear Nonprofit Security Friends,

Now that Congress has resumed business, efforts to jump start the unfinished FY 2026 appropriations process is underway.

Time and focus will not be straightforward (no spending limits have been reached at this point), although appropriators are hopeful they will move some of the spending bills soon.

However, none of the bills being discussed are the Homeland Security bill. It is hardly mentioned in reports or updates.

There was a brief mention that the Senate majority could move its own partisan Homeland Security bill through the committee process in the absence of reaching a bipartisan agreement with the minority. Such a move has occurred in the past when the Democrats controlled the Senate. It could serve as a starting point for further negotiations with the House down the road.

The FEMA preparedness grant programs, including the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, are tied to however the Senate spending committee proceeds with the Homeland Security bill. Several Senate Democrats wrote a letter to the Appropriations Committee this past summer seeking $500 million for NSGP. We do not know what the Senate majority is planning for NSGP. The House has already approved a version with $330 million for NSGP in FY 2026.

While we await the fate of NSGP funding, today, David Richardson resigned as acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He took over the role after his predecessor then-acting head of FEMA Cameron Hamilton was summarily fired in May after testifying before Congress to his personal support for FEMA in apparent defiance of the administration’s stated opposition to the agency.

Richardson, during his brief tenure, was criticized for his lack of leadership during disasters, lack of day-to-day presence and availability at the agency, and for his lack of experience and qualification for the job.

With massive workforce reductions at FEMA, including many senior-level employees, coupled with a phalanx of new rules and budget restrictions imposed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the disequilibrium at FEMA over the past 11 months has left NSGP in a state of near continuous mismanagement, inactivity, and opaqueness.

During this time, the administration has failed to proffer a permanent FEMA Administrator for confirmation and continues interim leadership at the agency with the appointment of FEMA’s current chief of staff Karen Evans as Richardson’s replacement.

While this is what is happening in the foreground, in the background a partisan “review council” commissioned by the President and co-chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Noem and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, is working on a final report that will inform (provide cover to) the administration to further “reform” and or “restructure” FEMA.

The report is a disquieting prospect given the current state of the agency and the programs it administers, such as NSGP.

Best,

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