FEMA

Created byReorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 (activated by Exec. Order 12127, Apr. 1, 1979); transferred into DHS Mar. 1, 2003 (Homeland Security Act of 2002); re-established as a distinct agency by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, Pub. L. 109-295 (effective Mar. 31, 2007)

Head appointed6 U.S.C. § 313(c) and 6 U.S.C. § 113(a)(1)(D): Administrator appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; statutory qualifications (demonstrated emergency-management ability plus "not less than 5 years of executive leadership and management experience"); reports directly to the Secretary; no fixed term (PAS)

Removal standardno statutory protection — at will

Funded underannual DHS Appropriations Act, including the Disaster Relief Fund (spent under the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. § 5121 et seq., frequently replenished by emergency supplementals); flood insurance runs through the National Flood Insurance Fund, 42 U.S.C. § 4017 (premiums plus Treasury borrowing authority, 42 U.S.C. § 4016)

Congressional oversightHouse Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Stafford Act jurisdiction; Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management) · Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Administrator nominations and FEMA oversight)

Inspector generalDHS OIG (PAS IG under the IG Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 401–424)

Judicial reviewStafford Act bars liability for "the exercise or performance of or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function" (42 U.S.C. § 5148); flood-insurance claim suits lie in district court (42 U.S.C. § 4072); APA review for non-discretionary final actions