Press Releases

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Representative Ed Case (D-HI-01), a member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security with authority over the budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal disaster relief efforts, today condemned deliberate misinformation that FEMA and related disaster assistance is being diverted from current and pending disasters to other sources.

“Not only is this misinformation fully inaccurate, but it is deliberately harming people and communities in most need of relief by leading them to believe incorrectly that they cannot access critical and available federal assistance,” said Case, whose own state of Hawai‘i continues to be critically impacted by the Maui wildfires of August 2023.

“In fact, Congress just approved and the President just signed into law an additional $20 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), the federal government’s main channel of disaster relief, and all of those funds have been delivered to FEMA. These funds will fully continue FEMA’s disaster assistance efforts for all of Maui, recent Hurricane Helene and pending Hurricane Milton and other federally declared disasters until they require further replenishment.”

Case noted that in North Carolina alone, which was heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene on September 27^th of this year, FEMA continues full efforts on the ground along with some two thousand other federal employees. He further noted that on Maui, FEMA and other federal partners have now provided approximately $3 billion in Maui wildfire efforts and continues its assistance with ongoing DRF funding.

FEMA’s DRF is the principal fund for immediate and ongoing disaster relief to affected communities. In the recent Continuing Resolution, which continued federal government funding into current Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 commencing October 1^st and was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President on September 26^th, the DRF, which was running low, was re-funded at $20 billion. Additionally, although federal government funding was continued through December 20, 2024 to allow for completion of the FY 2025 appropriations process and funding for most federal departments was prorated only through that date, Congress specifically authorized a full FY 2025 funding of $20 billion for the DRF and the money is fully available to FEMA.

“The misinformation that FEMA does not have available federal disaster relief, and that these monies have instead been diverted to ‘illegal immigrants’, Ukraine, and elsewhere, is completely false,” said Case. “Not only do the perpetrators and amplifiers know that it is false, not only are they making these statements for political purposes, but they are also deliberately harming the people and communities who most need this assistance as they are effectively being told it’s useless to seek assistance when they most need it.”

The Administrator of FEMA, Deanne Criswell, has called the misinformation a “truly dangerous narrative,” adding that it’s not just inconvenient, it is actively hindering disaster relief efforts by “creating this fear of trying to reach out and help us or register to help.”

To counter misinformation, FEMA has also launched a Hurricane Rumor Response webpage, which you can view here: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene/rumor-response

U.S. Representative Chuck Edwards, a Republican representing one of the districts most heavily impacted by Helene, also issued a press release dispelling misinformation from “untrustworthy sources trying to spark chaos,” assuring people that Hurricane Helene was not geoengineered by the government, FEMA is not turning away donations, FEMA has not diverted disaster response funding to the border or foreign aid, FEMA is not going to run out of money and FEMA cannot seize property or land, among other things.

Case continued: “To be clear, there are areas where disaster assistance is running dangerously low, in particular Small Business Administration loan relief, and it is also very clear that even the $20 billion of new appropriations into the DRF will not be sufficient to indefinitely continue disaster assistance to Maui, the communities affected by Helene and Milton and other impacted communities across the country. 

“This is why I have joined colleagues on my House Appropriations Committee and otherwise in strongly advocating for an emergency supplemental disaster relief package to be passed as soon as Congress reconvenes this November after the elections.  My full efforts are devoted to passage of that package and to continued relief for Maui and all other communities affected by disasters.”

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