Just eight days into Fiscal Year 2025, FEMA has already spent nearly half of its disaster relief budget due to two hurricanes that have devastated the southeastern United States. The federal agency has come under heavy scrutiny, particularly after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas informed reporters that FEMA’s funding may not last until the end of the hurricane season, which runs through November.

According to Politico, spending surged after efforts to assist with Hurricane Helene, and will continue as Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday. “I’m going to have to evaluate how quickly we’re burning the remaining dollars in the Disaster Relief Fund,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell stated, just hours before Hurricane Milton struck. The agency has been lobbying Congress for additional funds for the Disaster Relief Fund.

WaPo: Biden didn't use FEMA funds on migrants.

KJP in 2022: We're using FEMA funds on migrants.

You just can't make this stuff up. pic.twitter.com/KHtMTdz84b

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Criswell revealed that of the $20 billion allocated to FEMA’s disaster fund on October 1, approximately $9 billion had already been spent in a little over a week. Fiscal Year 2025 will continue through September 20, 2025.

This contrasts with an earlier statement from the Biden-Harris administration, which claimed in a press release, “FEMA has sufficient funding to both support the response to Hurricane Milton and continue to support the response to Hurricane Helene.” However, the agency has also been criticized for using over $640 million to shelter illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Funding for these shelters was allocated to FEMA by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a 2024 appropriations package for the “Shelter Services Program.” This program, funded at $800 million in 2023, was designed “to support sheltering and related activities provided by non-Federal entities, including facility improvements and construction, in support of relieving overcrowding in short-term holding facilities” managed by CBP for illegal immigrants.

According to Politico, without additional funding from Congress dedicated to disaster relief, FEMA will be forced to halt other disaster projects and focus solely on life-saving operations. “We keep a reserve in the Disaster Relief Fund to make sure I can always cover these life-saving activities,” Criswell explained. Before the hurricanes, she had anticipated that restrictions on spending would only need to be imposed in January or February.