Fugate outlined a bevy of of consequences of varying sizes to FEMA operations if DHS funding lapses this Friday. Any operations not directly tied to life-saving and protecting property, he said, will shut down at midnight Friday. He said he was already planning with staff next steps in case of a shutdown, running through which staffers would remain working and which would be furloughed, and what operations would continue.
Any urgent natural disasters that require federal support — like electricity generators, search and rescue efforts and other operations to stabilize a dangerous situation — will receive it. But because of the shutdown, the response could be sluggish or delayed.
“If we have a no-notice event — a terrorist event, some kind of technological disaster or an earthquake, I’ll be calling staff back in the same time we’re responding,” he said.
“If we had a terrorist attack, if they required things like urban search and rescue teams, these are federally-sponsored teams that may be required to go. We would respond to it, but we would probably have to call people back in.”
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“It would start backing things up. [During the last shutdown,] every week we shut down it was about a week and a half to two weeks to get caught up to where we were,” he said.
Fugate didn’t offer a solution for the congressional stalemate, only underscored what he said was the urgent necessity to find a compromise. But he said he believes the immigration debate should be separate from the DHS funding debate.
“This is a debate that has a lot on both sides that needs to be worked out, but generally when you’re dealing with things like that [immigration reform] you deal with separate legislation,” he said.
“Congress has a job to do. I can respect them for taking the stands they’re taking. I cannot respect that they’re making this into a cheap debate to the American people, assuming that nobody will notice.”
