GAO report finds FEMA preparedness grants lack transparency

The Government Accountability Office released a report highlighting shortcomings in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's administration of its preparedness grant programs.

FEMA's 13 preparedness grants total $2.9 billion for fiscal year 2026 and are intended to help nonfederal and non-governmental entities prevent, prepare for, and respond to terrorism, mass shootings, transit or port incidents, and special events such as the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

GAO found that FEMA did not fully describe the criteria used to assess applications in its 2021 funding notice for transit security grants and mischaracterized how risk-reduction scores would be weighted. The agency also failed to consistently award the highest-scoring applications. A September 2025 port security grant announcement omitted required descriptions of evaluation criteria and weighting.

When the Department of Homeland Security established National Priority Areas in 2020, FEMA did not communicate the addition to the grant application process before implementation, as reported in January 2024. Outreach efforts - including bulletins, email notifications, and listening sessions - did not effectively solicit stakeholder input, and DHS had not fully documented the rationale for changes for several years. Grantees said the lack of information hindered their planning.

GAO noted that FEMA's risk assessment models for two homeland security grants (2018) and its transit security grants (2023) did not follow recognized scientific practices. The models lacked documentation of underlying assumptions, weight sizes, and justification for year-to-year changes, and the transit security model omitted cyber threats identified by DHS in fiscal year 2019.

GAO recommends that FEMA fully describe assessment criteria, ensure evaluation processes align with grant goals, incorporate relevant threats into risk models, and apply lessons learned before future grant actions. As of November 2026, lawsuits concerning immigration-related grant conditions remain ongoing.