5. Department of Homeland Security · Minor · Needs Congress
Make only the FEMA Administrator Senate-confirmed
Printed page 154 5. Department of Homeland Security
“FEMA currently has four Senate-confirmed positions. Only the Administrator should be confirmed by the Senate; other political leadership need not be confirmed by the Senate.”
What has happened
- Not started
FEMA still has four Senate-confirmed positions and no bill reducing them to one has passed either chamber. The FEMA Review Council's final report does not mention Senate confirmation at all. The FEMA Act of 2025 (H.R. 4669), the vehicle most likely to carry such a change, was ordered reported by committee on 2025-09-03 and has not been voted on; the FEMA Independence Act (H.R. 2308, S. 1246) would move in the opposite direction by making the Administrator a Cabinet-level appointee of an independent agency, and is also in committee.
No action found yet. This entry is the starting point, not a finding.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
One negative search covered this ask with the others on pages 151–158 of Chapter 5.
A Requires-Congress ask: the four Senate-confirmed FEMA positions are set by 6 U.S.C. 313 and related provisions, and only Congress can reduce them. Committee action does not count as progress, so H.R. 4669 being ordered reported leaves this at not started.
Also searched: the public laws enacted in the window, from congress.gov (104; none amends FEMA’s appointment structure), and the enrolled text of Public Law 119-86, the FY2026 DHS appropriation.
- Action
- eliminate
- Object
- FEMA Senate-confirmed positions
- ID
- 388