FEMA's (Noem) delay in grant $ release pushing FIFA World Cup security to the limit.

Cosplay Barbie is still Sec. of DHS until the end of March.

FIFA World Cup 2026: Security concerns grow in US as funding stalls

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/3/20/fifa-world-cup-2026-security-concerns-grow-in-us-as-funding-stalls

Officials working to prepare for the World Cup in the US have increasingly sounded alarms in recent weeks over a stalled $625m in ⁠federal security grants for the event that were part of a Republican-backed spending bill passed in July 2025.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, tasked with distributing the money, said in November that it was expecting to allocate the funds no later than January 30.

Following inquiries by Reuters this month after officials and organisers complained that they had still received nothing, FEMA announced on Wednesday that it had awarded the grants, saying the money would “bolster security preparations”.


The grant money distribution process normally takes months, and efforts to buy technology and equipment can take even longer, according to Mike Sena, president of the National Fusion Center Association, which represents a network of 80 information centres across the US that facilitate federal, state and local intelligence sharing.

“It will be extremely tight,” he said.