When President Donald Trump quickly granted federal disaster assistance to the Texas region devastated by last week’s deadly floods, his approval was missing a key element: funds for hazard mitigation.
That money, which is used to help states rebuild in stronger ways to reduce the consequences of future disasters, was left out of the approved funds and is pending review, according to the state.
“A request from Texas to authorize additional FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program resources statewide remains pending,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office said in a press release.
Before April, it was standard practice for presidents to grant funds for public assistance, individual assistance and hazard mitigation all at once in the same disaster declaration.
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Trump’s administration has changed that. It has been leaving out assistance for preventative measures. Since April, the federal government has rejected hazard mitigation aid for storm recovery across the country, including in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Missouri and Oklahoma.
In Texas, Trump appears to be continuing the pattern. While he has not rejected the aid request, he approved the other parts of the disaster request while leaving the hazard mitigation under review. That’s the same pattern he has followed with other states, with many requests ultimately getting denied.
Hazard mitigation funds are typically used to build infrastructure like storm shelters and warning systems, and to bolster flood-prone riverbanks. In the case of Kerr County, Texas, where a search and rescue operation is still underway, such funds could be used to pay for efforts like evacuation plans and shelters for the summer camps along the flood-prone Guadalupe River, or a flash-flood early-warning system.
Abbott’s office and FEMA did not respond to requests for comment. The White House directed NOTUS to FEMA for comment.
The Trump administration has been slower to review disaster aid requests than previous administrations. Trump has also denied some FEMA disaster funds altogether, like the funding requested for bomb cyclone recovery in Washington state. While the federal relief funds were expedited for Texas, 12 other federal disaster requests still sit under review. Requests for Michigan, Oregon and Indiana that date back to May remain pending, according to FEMA’s daily operations briefing on Tuesday.
Oregon appears to be the most recent state to have its request for federal disaster funding, including hazard mitigation, denied. The request denial is dated June 19, 2025, in FEMA records reviewed by NOTUS.
Hazard mitigation funds are not used in the immediate aftermath of the recovery but rather in the later months and years. The program has been riddled with structural issues that make it hard for states to access and use the funds, leaving large balances approved but unused for some states. The Biden administration made changes to the program in 2024 to try to make it easier for states to access the funds, when about 20% of the available funds had gone unspent.
FEMA runs a second program for state and local governments to prepare and harden their infrastructure before potential disasters, called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities. The Trump administration canceled that program in April and said it would not be paying out funds for already-awarded grants.
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