() The loss of key staff and low morale at the Federal Emergency Management Agency have derailed the agency’s planning for the June 1 start of hurricane season, according to an internal document obtained by Reuters. The agency chief said on Thursday that FEMA is well prepared.
The agency has lost 2,000 full-time staffers, or roughly one-third of its total, to terminations and voluntary incentives as part of an effort by President Donald Trump to slash the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy.
The internal document underscores potential challenges facing the agency, including possible issues with morale, a lack of coordination with states and resource constraints as it prepares for the start of hurricane season.
Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have called for the disaster relief agency to turn over much of its work to states while also floating the idea of abolishing it. FEMA is part of DHS.
The concerns about morale and staffing were included in a 19-page slide deck titled “Hurricane Readiness Complex Problem Solving” and were prepared for acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson to use in a meeting with agency leaders, according to a person with knowledge of the matter and a statement from a DHS official.
Some Senate Republicans are unsettled by the Trump administration’s decision to fire Cameron Hamilton, acting director of FEMA, for speaking out against Trump’s plan to shutter the agency.
Hamilton testified to lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month that closing FEMA would not be in the best interest of the American people. The next day, he was escorted out of FEMA’s headquarters after being let go.
The swift retaliation against an administration official over testimony before a congressional panel was jarring to some Republican lawmakers, who worried it could chill the willingness of officials to answer questions candidly at future hearings.
The move signaled Trump is serious about eliminating FEMA, something that many Republican senators strongly oppose.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., whose home state was hit hard by Hurricane Helene in September, said it was a mistake to fire Hamilton over his testimony.
“I think he was giving his honest opinion and in some respects he had an obligation to do that because he was under oath,” he said.
Tillis said Hamilton made “the right decision” by giving lawmakers his candid opinion when asked about the elimination of the agency.
Reuters and partner The Hill contributed to this report.
