Some FEMA staff call out Trump cuts in public letter of dissent
[August 26, 2025]
By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA
More than 180 current and former employees of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency published a letter Monday warning that debilitating
cuts to the agency charged with handling federal disaster response risks
a catastrophe like the one seen after Hurricane Katrina.
“Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our
mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us
to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of
decisions made by the current administration,” the letter states.
The statement in it is noteworthy not only for its content but for its
overall existence; a fierce approach toward critics by the Trump
administration has caused many in the federal government to hesitate
before locking heads with the White House.
The letter coincides with the 20th anniversary week of Hurricane
Katrina, when more than 1,800 people died and profound failures in the
federal response prompted Congress to pass the Post-Katrina Emergency
Management Reform Act of 2006.
The letter warns that poor management and eroded capacity at FEMA could
undo progress made to improve the agency through that law.
“Two decades later, FEMA is enacting processes and leadership structures
that echo the conditions PKEMRA was designed to prevent," it states.
It comes amid uncertainty for FEMA
The letter is addressed to the FEMA Review Council, a 12-person group of
elected officials, emergency managers and other leaders from mostly
Republican states that President Donald Trump appointed to suggest
reforms to an agency he has repeatedly threatened to eliminate.
It comes after months of upheaval at FEMA. One-third of the agency's
full-time workforce has left or been fired, including many high-level
staff. The agency's acting chief, Cameron Hamilton, was fired in May and
replaced by another acting head, David Richardson. Neither has prior
emergency management experience.
FEMA's response to the July Texas floods that killed at least 136 people
came under criticism after reports that survivor calls to FEMA went
unanswered and Urban Search and Rescue teams deployed late because of a
policy by which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem must personally
approve expenditures above $100,000.
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The letter contains six “statements of opposition” to current
policies at FEMA, including the expenditure approval policy, which
the signatories say reduces FEMA’s ability to perform its missions.
It also critiques the DHS decision to reassign some FEMA employees
to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the failure to appoint a
qualified FEMA administrator as stipulated by law, and cuts to
mitigation programs, preparedness training and FEMA workforce.
In an email Monday, FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargues said that the
Trump Administration “has made accountability and reform a priority
so that taxpayer dollars actually reach the people and communities
they are meant to help.”
“It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided
over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform,” Llargues
said. "Change is always hard.”
Letter seeks to establish FEMA as a Cabinet-level agency
The letter was also sent to multiple Congressional committees and
calls on lawmakers to establish FEMA as a Cabinet-level independent
agency in the executive branch. The bipartisan Fixing Emergency
Management for Americans, or FEMA Act, introduced in the House last
month, proposes the same.
Thirty five signatories included their names. The 141 anonymous
signatories “choose not to identify themselves due to the culture of
fear and suppression cultivated by this administration,” according
to the letter.
Employees at other agencies including the National Institutes of
Health and Environmental Protection Agency have issued similar
statements. About 140 EPA staff members at the were placed on
administrative leave for signing an opposition letter.
The FEMA Review Council will meet for the third time this week on
Thursday.
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