Executive Order 14397: Further Continuance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council

What does Executive Order 14397 do?

The text directs Council to complete review and recommendations, and Co-chairs to submit final report.

Reading the operative provisions of Executive Order 14397

EO 14397 further extends the FEMA Review Council so it can finish its review and submit recommendations before the new termination date. The order’s text is in the Federal Register. It follows EO 14378 and continues the council’s advisory work; it does not change FEMA’s statutory disaster-response or assistance duties.

The council’s work can include examining FEMA’s organization, grant administration, disaster response and coordination with states and localities. It may gather information and make recommendations, but FEMA remains responsible for operating its programs. A continued term gives the council time to complete the report, while the agency must continue responding to declared disasters and administering existing assistance.

The order’s deadline is about the council, not individual disaster claims or grant applications. Its final report may inform later policy, but recommendations do not change law until Congress or an authorized agency acts. Readers should distinguish the council’s findings from FEMA’s formal decisions and from any changes to the Stafford Act or grant rules. The report and FEMA’s response are the evidence needed to assess the review’s outcome.

A useful final report should explain the evidence reviewed, identify recommendations and distinguish administrative improvements from statutory changes that would require Congress. FEMA’s response can state which recommendations it will implement, which need funding or rulemaking and which it cannot adopt under current law. Until those steps occur, the council’s continuation is a review process rather than an operational change to disaster assistance.

Because the council reviews several parts of FEMA’s work, recommendations may affect programs with different statutory rules, such as disaster response, mitigation grants and flood insurance. A single organizational recommendation may therefore require separate implementation steps across FEMA offices. The agency should identify the affected program, responsible official and legal authority for each change. This prevents a general recommendation to improve efficiency from being mistaken for a change in benefit eligibility or disaster-aid deadlines.