US senator seeks release of delayed security funds from FEMA

By Leah Douglas

WASHINGTON -The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency must release months-overdue funding notices for security grants that help cities, ports, synagogues and other entities prevent terrorist threats, Democratic Senator Andy Kim said in a letter sent to the Trump administration on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump has floated dismantling or reshaping dFEMA, and the administration has already cut billions in agency funding for community resilience grants.

Twenty Democrat-led states sued the administration on Wednesday for canceling the resilience grant program after it was approved and funded by Congress.

FEMA was statutorily required to issue funding notices for its security grant programs, which allocated $1.5 billion in 2024, by May 14, said Kim in the letter sent to Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem on Wednesday. Kim serves on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and is ranking member on its disaster subcommittee.

"Each of these programs works differently; together they contribute to a multi-faceted approach to safer and more secure communities throughout our country," the letter said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The funds are especially critical since the U.S.' June attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, after which the DHS warned of a heightened terrorism risk, the letter said.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter)