← Presidential Disaster Declarations Disaster Lab

FEMA Major Disaster Declarations by Presidential Administration

Comparing approval rates, denial rates, and processing times across seven presidential administration periods (2001–present). Data from OpenFEMA API. Major Disaster declarations only (COVID-19 excluded).

Administration Approved Denied Total Denial Rate Median Days
to Approval		 Median Days
to Denial
Methodology: Declarations assigned to the administration in office when the decision was made (declaration date for approvals, status date for denials). Bush and Obama terms are each split into two to align with the corresponding presidential election cycle for political analysis. Trump 2 data covers Jan 20, 2025 through present and is a partial term.
Data: OpenFEMA API — FemaWebDisasterDeclarations and DeclarationDenials endpoints. Major Disaster declarations only (Emergency, Fire Management, and COVID-19 Biological declarations excluded). Tribal nation declarations are included in the total counts.