DHS Shutdown Could Cripple Local Disaster Response as FEMA Support Restricted

The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security could severely hamper local disaster response capabilities across the United States, according to a public safety expert who spoke exclusively about the situation’s impact on emergency services.

Jeffrey Halstead, director of strategic accounts at Genasys, a communications provider that helps communities during disasters, warned that the restriction of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) support would leave many local jurisdictions vulnerable in crisis situations.

“Every time that the government enters into one of these shutdowns, there’s a distinctive part of the federal government that is impacted, both reviewing the grant program or distributing funds from pre-awarded grant programs,” said Halstead, who also served as police chief in Fort Worth, Texas, bringing more than 30 years of law enforcement experience to his assessment.

The Trump administration has ordered FEMA to suspend the deployment of over 300 disaster responders who were preparing for upcoming assignments. These workers have been told to halt travel plans, while grant systems remain only partially operational until lawmakers reach a funding agreement for the department.

For communities currently recovering from disasters, the impacts are immediate. Staff already working on major recovery efforts will remain at their sites but cannot return home unless their assignments end. Critically, no new personnel can join or relieve them without specific DHS approval.

“Should there be a traumatic weather event, critical incident or something that would require FEMA support, FEMA staff or FEMA resources, those may not be available,” Halstead explained. “This drastically impacts the city, county, state and federal collaboration efforts that literally are immediately engaged, aligned and resources deployed, sometimes within 12 hours.”

The timing of the shutdown is particularly concerning given ongoing recovery efforts in regions like North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene caused devastating damage in fall 2024. Areas still struggling to rebuild now face additional hurdles as federal support stalls.

“When that is dramatically impacted, you still see some areas of North Carolina a couple of years later still struggling in the recovery phase being completed,” Halstead noted. “That is directly related to all of these stalls and delays in FEMA, FEMA funding and the financial support needed to get the recovery phase completed.”

The shutdown’s effects extend beyond immediate disaster response to preparedness activities. The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) in Arizona, for example, has seen grant reviews suspended, preventing the replacement of outdated equipment and vehicles and halting training that ensures emergency services meet required standards.

“The biggest impact is funding, the grants being distributed and then getting all that equipment and training aligned so that they can actually have a very successful year getting ready for a disaster,” Halstead said.

With recent extreme weather events including snow on the East Coast, flooding in California, and fire disasters in the High Plains forcing evacuations, Halstead described federal funding as “extremely critical” for effective emergency management.

“It’s absolutely extremely critical for emergency managers, your fire departments as well as law enforcement, to utilize not just these partnerships and the resources, but the funding allocations so that they can plan effectively in responding, operational control of the disaster, and then getting into that recovery mode,” he said.

The shutdown stems from an impasse between Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Democrats are pushing for stricter oversight and reforms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis last month, while Republicans have resisted these demands. President Trump has characterized it as a “Democrat shutdown” that “has nothing to do with Republicans.”

Halstead expressed frustration over the political deadlock, noting this is just the latest in a series of government shutdowns in recent years that have disrupted essential emergency services.

“I know a lot of people are really upset because they leverage a significant political issue over a common funding agreement that should have been approved very quickly,” he said. “When the government is shut down, all of this work — grant reviews, proposals, funding, disbursements — those are all delayed. Then there is a significant lag time getting back to an open government.”

With President Trump’s State of the Union address approaching next week and no immediate resolution in sight, Halstead anticipates the disruption could continue for at least two more weeks, with the backlog of funding requests taking considerably longer to clear even after the government reopens.