• What Happened: DHS denied media reports that FEMA suspended deployment of disaster aid workers, saying the Washington Post and Reuters ran a false narrative after internal guidance caused temporary confusion during the government funding lapse.
  • Why It Matters: The shutdown was triggered by congressional Democrats demanding new restrictions on ICE following the fatal shooting of two protesters in Minneapolis, and FEMA's 14 active disaster declarations are caught in the middle.
  • Bottom Line: DHS says disaster response never stopped and called out the Washington Post directly for pushing a false story even after being given accurate information.

The Washington Post ran a story claiming FEMA suspended disaster relief workers across the country. DHS says that was flat out false, and they told the Post before the story even published.

"FEMA travel related to active disasters is NOT canceled and was NEVER canceled," DHS declared Thursday in a statement on X, pushing back hard against reports from both the Post and Reuters that painted a picture of disaster relief grinding to a halt under a government shutdown.

Here is what actually happened. Congressional Democrats triggered a funding lapse by demanding new restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents following the fatal shooting of two protesters in Minneapolis last month. That lapse forced DHS to issue guidance restricting travel and certain operational activities to comply with federal law. Some internal confusion followed, with a FEMA chief of staff sending an email indicating disaster travel was included in the stop-travel order.

By Wednesday morning, DHS and FEMA were already working to clarify the guidance and get disaster workers moving again. DHS was clear about its priorities throughout: "During a funding lapse, FEMA prioritizes life safety and property protection. FEMA continues mission-essential operations for active disasters, including immediate response and critical survivor assistance."

There are 14 active disaster declarations tied to last month's severe winter storms. Those operations continued.

The Post knew this before publishing. DHS said directly: "We told the @washingtonpost this but they still decided to run with this false narrative."

Democrats shut down the government over immigration politics. FEMA had a brief moment of internal confusion that was quickly corrected. The media turned it into a five-alarm crisis story designed to make the Trump administration look incompetent.

None of it was true. The media ran it anyway.