The Fairness and Accountability of Appeals Act of 2025 amends federal disaster relief law to require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reimburse attorney's fees for disaster assistance applicants who win their appeals or arbitration cases. Currently, applicants who challenge FEMA's decisions on disaster aid must pay their own legal costs, even if they successfully prove FEMA was wrong. This bill would remove that financial barrier by making FEMA cover attorney's fees whenever an applicant prevails in an appeal or arbitration proceeding under the Stafford Act, the main federal law governing disaster assistance. The change affects disaster victims and survivors nationwide who dispute FEMA's decisions about their eligibility or the amount of aid they receive. The bill does not establish new funding allocations or timelines but creates an ongoing obligation for FEMA to pay these fees from its existing budget when applicants win their cases.
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