Local officials told the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that the ongoing partial government shutdown may make it significantly harder to coordinate security for the World Cup.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday halted the dispersal of non-emergency federal grants managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the name of prioritizing disaster response during the shutdown. That move affects the counterterrorism and security grants that FEMA distributes.
Mike Sena, the president of the National Fusion Center Association, which represents the state-based centers which link local law enforcement with federal intelligence agencies, said the pause in FEMA money has not yet affected actual operations, but that it could do so soon.
“We don’t know if and when we will get funding to continue operations. So the longer they are not around and not at their desk and working one of these problems, the longer we don’t know what is going to happen with the money we need to execute for these World Cup games,” Sena said.
