14. Department of Health and Human Services · Minor
Review the ASPR–FEMA emergency response arrangement
Printed page 491 14. Department of Health and Human Services
“While this arrangement has some benefits because of FEMA’s unique logistical capabilities, the arrangement should be reviewed—especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic—for improvements in efficiency according to expertise and available resources, reduced confusion for ASPR and among HHS agencies, and avoidance of duplicated efforts among agencies and personnel.”
What has happened
- Not started
No review of the ASPR-FEMA division of labor in public health emergencies has been published. ASPR's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026-2029, released 2026-01-09, restructures the agency's priorities around state and local resiliency, medical supply chain and "rapid, efficient, and adaptive federal response", but it does not examine or change the arrangement under which FEMA provides logistical support to HHS. The FEMA Review Council (EO 14180, continued by EO 14378 and EO 14397) reviews FEMA and does not address HHS's use of it.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- Checked 2026-08-28: aspr.hhs.gov and www.aspr.gov can be read and serve a 1,506-URL sitemap covering the whole newsroom and blog; 115 items are dated 2025 or 2026. Nothing in that inventory is an ASPR-FEMA review.
- Federal Register: no HHS or DHS document of the window announces a review of the ASPR-FEMA arrangement.
- Action
- other
- Object
- ASPR and FEMA public health emergency roles
- ID
- 1375