The department is responsible for coordinating relief and rescue efforts in the event of natural disasters, but Trump has often criticized FEMA as ineffective and a waste of money and questioned whether it should exist at all.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Sunday issued an executive order establishing a review council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, just days after he floated shuttering the agency whose resources are strained following multiple weather-related disasters and which is burdened by past failures in handling massive storms.