A temporary, presidentially created advisory body (the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council) set up by Executive Order 14180 to conduct a full-scale review of FEMAs ability to respond impartially and effectively to disasters and to recommend structural or policy changes to improve disaster response and national resilience.
Executive Order 14180 (Jan 24, 2025) established the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council: a council of up to 20 members (including DHS and DoD Secretaries as co-chairs) charged to review FEMAs recent disaster responses, solicit public input, compare Federal, State, local and private-sector responses, and deliver a report to the President with findings and reform recommendations within statutorily set timelines.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) is a 1972 federal law (5 U.S.C. Appendix) that governs executive-branch advisory committees by requiring charters, public notice and open meetings, public access to records, balanced membership, and reporting to ensure transparency and accountability.
Under the continuance order the Secretary of Homeland Security performs the Presidents functions under FACA for this Council — i.e., carrying out FACA duties such as filing the council charter, ensuring public meetings/notice, recordkeeping, and other FACA compliance actions (consistent with GSAs regulations); the Secretary also serves as a Council co-chair under the original EO.
The Administrator of General Services is the head of the General Services Administration (GSA); GSA (through the Administrator and its Committee Management Secretariat) issues the regulations, guidelines, and procedures that implement FACA government-wide—setting charter, meeting, membership, transparency, and reporting requirements that FACA bodies must follow.
"Subject to the availability of appropriations" means the Councils activities depend on Congress-authorized and -provided funding; without available appropriations the Council cannot obligate money for staff, meetings, or studies, which can limit its operations and the ability to meet its stated timeline.
The White House order assigns publication costs to DHS because the Department was designated to provide the Councils administrative, technical, and funding support in the establishing EO; assigning costs to DHS makes the Department responsible for paying for Federal Register/official publication expenses associated with the order and any FACA filings.