FEMA doles out $250M to 11 states in counter-drone push

The Department of Homeland Security’s plans for counter-drone efforts are coming into focus with the agency’s announcement last week of $250 million in funding allocations for 11 states and Washington, D.C. The push comes ahead of the district and states hosting the FIFA World Cup 2026 and America 250 national events. The two occasions are expected to bring unprecedented levels of spectators, and, in turn, bad actors, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Karen Evans, acting administrator at FEMA, said in a statement“We knew we needed to act quickly to keep the World Cup safe from the rising threat of unmanned aircraft systems and that’s exactly what we did. This is the fastest non-disaster grant program ever executed by FEMA with funds being awarded just 25 days after the application deadline.” California is set to receive the lion’s share of the funding, at just under $34.6 million. Texas and Washington, D.C., rounded out the top three highest allocations, surpassing $30 million and $28 million, respectively. The awarded investments will go toward boosting drone-tracking infrastructure and detection technologies, in response to hostile actors that have “intensified” their use of the technology, the agency said. There have been several drone-related incidents in past years that have given cause for pause. In 2023, an NFL matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals was delayed due to a drone flying over the stadium. The 2024 AFC Championship was interrupted as well after a drone was identified in restricted airspace. Other sports events and gatherings, such as the Boston Marathon, have also been the target of unauthorized drones. Congressional appropriators mostly ignored the Trump administration’s requests to slash budgets at several science and data agencies in a package of fiscal year 2026 bills released this week. House and Senate lawmakers revealed a package of three bipartisan appropriations bills on Monday, including legislation to fund the Department of Commerce, Department of Justice, and science agencies — such as the National Science Foundation and NASA — as well as bills that cover the Department of Energy and Department of Interior. While the Trump administration sought deep cuts for Commerce and many science agencies in its budget for FY 2026, the final bill doesn’t adopt those requests. It instead opts for small decreases or increases at some agencies and maintains relatively similar funding to previous years at others. The three-bill “minibus” — a term used to describe a subset of appropriations bills that would make up an omnibus appropriations package for the entire government — signals important agreement as the government again nears a possible shutdown. However, lawmakers still have several more negotiated appropriations bills to release and must pass that legislation before the continuing resolution currently keeping the government open expires Jan. 30. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.