Recent reporting from Spectrum News is spotlighting the devastating consequences of failed “recovery czar” Michael Whatley’s recommendations in his FEMA Review Council Final Report. 

As the co-chair of the Final Report Subcommittee, Whatley was in charge of drafting the report – which called for “significantly reduc[ing] aid to states” and leaving North Carolina with “hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs.” 

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Spectrum News: N.C. raises concerns about FEMA Review Council’s report

Reuben Jones | July 31, 2026

• The agency is preparing for a new administrator, and President Donald Trump’s council recently recommended reforms that could result in significantly reduced aid to states.
• But the council’s report does call for major changes, potentially putting state and local governments on the hook for more money.
• The report recommends reducing the federal cost share for emergency declarations from a minimum of 75% to minimum of 50%.
• That change could be significant for a state like North Carolina, which received a 100% federal cost share after Tropical Storm Helene hit in 2024, before it was lowered to 90%. 
• In a public comment the state said if a lower cost share had been in place it would have meant hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs to local and state governments. 
• The report also calls for changes to payments for survivors whose homes are uninhabitable and would tie aid to a home’s assessed value.
• “Some of the recommendations in the report could decrease the number of survivors who qualify based on whether the home is uninhabitable and also could decrease the amount that a survivor would get,” Calabria said.
• Watauga County resident Jon Council’s home was damaged in Helene, and he said without the $10,000 he got from FEMA he would have had a harder time rebuilding.
• He also worries about what the changes could mean for renters. The report recommends capping rental assistance six months after a disaster.
• “I don’t know what your experience is with natural disaster, but six months is not very long on the disaster timeline,” Council said.

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