FEMA to Move Out of Lead Virus Role to Focus on Reopening (3)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is trying to remove itself as the lead agency on the federal Covid-19 response and is in discussions to hand over its responsibilities to another federal agency, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

The move signals a shift in the Trump administration’s priorities, from the initial rush to increase the supply of necessary equipment to states and health-care workers to a longer-term strategy to reopen the U.S. economy.

FEMA is working with the Department of Health and Human Services on transition plans, and some functions and staff will likely return to HHS, which ...