Trump suspends FEMA staff after open letter on disaster risks
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Trump suspends dozens of FEMA employees after they warned that cuts and reforms could recreate Hurricane Katrina-era failures in US disaster response.
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Cam Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security oversight hearing of FEMA on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP)
The Trump administration has suspended several employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after they publicly criticized the agency’s leadership, US media reported Tuesday.
The disciplinary action followed an open letter sent on Monday, on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, in which more than 180 current and former FEMA staff warned that budget cuts and structural reforms enacted under President Donald Trump could recreate the same conditions that fueled the government’s widely condemned response to the 2005 disaster.
Of the 182 signatories, 36 identified themselves, while the rest withheld their names over fears of retaliation. According to The New York Times, around 30 FEMA workers were placed on administrative leave, with emails informing them they would remain in “non-duty status” but continue to receive pay and benefits.
One of those suspended, Virginia Case, a supervisory management and program analyst, told CNN she was disappointed but unsurprised by the move. “I’m also proud of those of us who stood up, regardless of what it might mean for our jobs,” she said. “The public deserves to know what’s happening, because lives and communities will suffer if this continues.” Case said she knew of at least six other colleagues who had also received suspension notices.
Trump's pursuit of abolishing FEMA
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly declared his intention to abolish FEMA, arguing that states should “take care of their own problems.” He has accused the agency of inefficiency and claimed, without evidence, that it holds a political bias against Republican-led states.
Hurricane Katrina, which struck the US Gulf Coast in August 2005, left more than 1,000 dead and caused over $100 billion in damage. The federal government’s delayed and confused response led to the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA), which was designed to prevent such failures in the future.
But in their letter, FEMA staff argued that two decades later, reforms under the Trump administration are undoing PKEMRA’s safeguards. They called on Congress to elevate FEMA to a Cabinet-level independent agency and shield it from politically motivated firings.
Review delays critical to assistance
The letter also cited new restrictions imposed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who now requires personal review of any FEMA contracts, grants, or mission assignments exceeding $100,000. The signatories said such reviews delayed urgent missions by up to 72 hours during the July 2025 floods in Kerrville, Texas, worsening the disaster response.
According to the letter, one-third of FEMA’s full-time workforce has already left the agency this year, largely due to budget cuts implemented under the Department of Government Efficiency, a Trump-created office formerly led by billionaire Elon Musk.
However, in light of the budget cuts that targeted FEMA and other critical agencies, the agency itself announced earlier in August that states will be denied access to disaster preparedness funding if they boycott companies linked to the Israeli occupation. The agency cited a directive from Trump requiring state governments to formally declare they will not sever commercial ties with Israeli firms as a condition for receiving federal aid.
