FEMA

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has deployed $1.47 billion in World Cup security funding: $625 million to 11 US host cities and $846 million to nine states, with over $221 million earmarked for counter-drone (C-UAS) systems. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the threat level as 'extremely high'. More than 400 law-enforcement agencies are coordinating, with 60 officers from 30 jurisdictions trained in drone mitigation at an FBI facility in Huntsville, Alabama.

FEMA was established by executive order in 1979 under President Carter and absorbed into DHS in 2003 following the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Its primary mandate is civilian disaster response; large-scale security event coordination is a secondary but growing function, administered through the Urban Area Security Initiative. For the 2026 tournament, the PATH to that $1.47bn total was turbulent: a partial DHS shutdown beginning 14 February 2026, triggered by Congressional deadlock over immigration enforcement spending, froze the initial $625 million in pre-approved city grants for nearly five weeks. The funds were released on 20 March, nearly seven weeks past the 30 January deadline. In the drones policy space, FEMA separately staged $250 million in C-UAS grants across 11 host states and the National Capital Region in May 2026.

FEMA's World Cup role illustrates how federal emergency infrastructure is increasingly being dual-purposed for mega-event security. The funding delay compressed procurement and staffing windows for host cities, converting a routine grant cycle into a live readiness risk. FEMA's disaster-response REMIT remains its primary function; the World Cup grants represent one high-profile recent action among its broader federal mandate.