Rhetoric from Trump administration officials appears to be shifting more toward reforming the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), rather than axing it entirely.

While the shift has been more apparent as the administration faces questions about the disaster agency in light of deadly floods in Texas, the subtle changes in how key figures talk about FEMA predates the July 4 tragedy.

Some officials have walked a tightrope, emphasizing that they want to tear down the agency while also rebuilding it, a fuzzy picture for the future of federal disaster policy.

In January, President Trump floated getting rid of the agency.

“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” he said at the time.

The executive order established a council to put together a report with information including “an evaluation of whether FEMA can........

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