The first 100 days of the Trump administration have put many of us who track and care about the work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in a tailspin. It seems like every day there’s been yet another attack on the agency, established almost fifty years ago to help communities prepare for and withstand catastrophic disasters. So, fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a rocky ride. Here’s a rundown of some of the Trump administration’s worst attacks on FEMA.
1: Gutting FEMA’s staff
On February 21, 2025, as part of the Trump administration’s mass federal agency layoffs, 200 FEMA staff were fired. Since then, an estimated 20% of FEMA staff (roughly 1,000) are expected to take voluntary buyouts. All of which comes on top of a staffing gap that FEMA and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed was at 35% in 2022 and the Congressional Research Service suggested is likely much higher.
I had a chance to speak with Michael A. Coen, Jr., who was the Chief of Staff to former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, regarding his concerns about the current FEMA staffing levels. He served at FEMA for 15 years and supported staff out on field operations for thousands of disasters across every state, territory and multiple tribes. Here’s what he said:
With the reduction of over 2,000 FEMA employees since January 20th, I am worried about the capacity for FEMA to support the increasing number of disasters and increased intensity of disasters that will affect people across the country. Much is expected of FEMA when Americans are experiencing the loss of their home or community following an earthquake, fire, or flood. With continued ongoing response and recovery operations supporting the California wildfires, Kentucky flooding, 2024 disasters, and events from years past including the Maui fires, FEMA is stretched.
The departures from firings, retirements, or resignations have diminished morale and increased mistrust in agency leadership. FEMA employees are proud of their mission, but the mission has been under attack by the spread of misinformation and the lack of transparency from the current administration.
2: Rescinding cost-effective, popular preparedness grant funding
On April 4, the Trump administration ended one of FEMA’s most effective and popular grant programs, the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, that President Trump originally signed into law in 2018. The cancellation of BRIC leaves communities less prepared even as disasters are mounting and as the Atlantic hurricane season (which starts June 1) approaches. Colorado State University is predicting nine hurricanes, including four that might advance to major hurricanes. Communities need more resources and funding to get prepared before such storms, not fewer.
The cancellation of these grants will disrupt projects already underway or planned by emergency managers and local and Tribal governments. For 2025, this puts $3.3 billion into jeopardy for projects across the US that would help mitigate heat, wildfires, flood and other extreme weather and natural hazards, according to Urban Institute. BRIC has had bipartisan support because members of Congress understood that investing in reducing risk and preventing future damages is a wise use of taxpayer dollars. On average, every $1 invested in federal mitigation grants saves $6 in avoided losses (in addition to saving lives and reducing disruption) and FEMA saves approximately $700 million annually (in 2018 dollars) by investing in these types of mitigation projects.
Many other FEMA funds have also been illegally frozen, causing states to sue the administration over executive overreach. On February 11, a FEMA official ordered a freeze on federal grant programs and in March FEMA blocked $10 billion in disaster aid on the pretext of immigration concerns. The result is chaos with states and jurisdictions scrambling to defend the funds they were promised.
3: Threatening to reduce disaster aid
This is a big one given the different and numerous ways President Trump has worked to threaten, deny, withhold, and otherwise disrupt disaster assistance. The only good news is that for President Trump to do real damage, at least legally, he will need to conduct rulemaking and work with Congress, and this will take time. However, in the interim states and communities are worried. So, what has he done to date?
On March 19, the president signed an executive order (EO) titled “Achieving Efficiency Through State and Local Preparedness.” I wrote about the significance of this EO and how the first section of policy speaks to what Trump has been threatening all along: to shift more responsibility for disaster resilience, preparedness and response onto the shoulders of state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments. This is concerning because when it comes to handling catastrophic disasters, and why FEMA exists, states—even larger states such as California—don’t have the same resources as the federal government. If Trump gets his way, disaster response and recovery will be more chaotic and ineffective, endangering more lives, especially those of the elderly, youth, those who have disabilities, and others with fewer resources to prepare or evacuate.
On April 12, FEMA head Cameron Hamilton sent a six-page draft memo to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) entitled “Actions to Rebalance FEMA’s Roles in Disasters” that only came to light weeks later through CNN news and subsequently on LinkedIn (yet another FEMA memo that has not been officially posted to the FEMA website—another red flag). In addition to the lack of transparency, there are two other jarring aspects of the memo. First, it details short-term federal actions FEMA would like to accomplish prior to the Atlantic hurricane season start on June 1, which gives emergency managers little notice to make contingency plans. Second, its intent is to implement significant agency changes over the near and long-term without first going through a federal request for information or a pre-rulemaking to get thoughtful input from stakeholders. Admittedly, not everything listed under the short-term actions is all bad. We’ve long advocated for making the right reforms to FEMA—but these actions which could determine the fates of communities in their most vulnerable hours ought to go through a public comment process. Other federal actions listed, however, are deeply concerning, including but not limited to:
- Increasing the public assistance (PA) threshold for major disaster declarations by four times the current amount. Typically, FEMA provides stakeholders with a significant amount of time for public input when it comes to major changes such as these. For example, a long and thoughtful federal pre-rulemaking process was started under the Obama administration and continued under the first Trump administration on how to increase the PA threshold while also giving credit for risk reduction—the so-called “PA disaster deductible.” A four-fold threshold increase for state, local, tribal and territorial governments (especially in this economy) would mean that President Trump will deny many more disasters, leaving state, local, Tribal and territorial governments big, small, hurricane-prone, or wildfire-prone alike at the mercy of their own insufficient resources when a disaster strikes. Again, such a substantial change ought to go through the federal rulemaking process.
- Halting the automatic approval of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). Local hazard mitigation planners rely on the HMGP for supporting their planning efforts to help them develop their mitigation plans, so this could severely hamper local hazard mitigation planning. However, HMGP also supports risk reduction measures pre-disaster. So, the practical loss of HMGP along with BRIC means the few resources to help communities prior to extreme events have been thrown out, pulling the resources jurisdictions have counted on, out from under their feet.
4: Establishing a political “Review Council“
On January 24, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing a FEMA Review Council to provide the president recommendations on how to “improve FEMA” and “give states more of a role in disaster response.” The Council was also charged with requesting information from a range of stakeholders. This was posted on the federal register and the deadline for comments is May 15. You can submit comments and let the Council know that while not perfect, FEMA is essential to helping communities become more prepared before a disaster and recover after catastrophic events.
Three months later, on April 28, the public only just learned of the eleven members appointed to the Review Council, much behind the deadline President Trump set for the Council’s first public meeting.
This is just the start of an uphill battle to ensure our voices are heard above the administration’s mis-and disinformation, politicizing disaster assistance, and calls for dismantling and canceling FEMA altogether. Briefly, the 11 new members, in addition to the chairs of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, largely represent the Gulf states including Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
The Council members also include:
- Governors of Texas and Virginia and the former Governor of Mississippi
- The chair of the Republican National Committee
- Two emergency managers and a two-time acting FEMA administrator
- Tampa city mayor and the Miami-Dade County Sherriff
- A representative from the private sector (Chubb Insurance)
- A former Chief of Staff for the former governor of Louisiana
We must stay vigilant as the Council members will likely be pressured to have a narrow focus and reduce the agency’s mission in alignment with the goals of DHS Secretary Noem and President Trump to dismantle FEMA.
5: Failing to nominate a FEMA Administrator and instilling a culture of fear
It’s not hard to make the case that a president ought to have a FEMA administrator nominated soon into the start of the new administration, and at least within the first 100 days. Moreover, it is just a wise thing to have the nation’s FEMA administrator nominated and in place prior to the start of the Atlantic hurricane season on June 1. During President Trump’s first term, he nominated former administrator Brock Long on April 28, 2017, but he wasn’t confirmed by Congress until June 20. In this term, on January 22 President Trump appointed the inexperienced former Navy Seal Cameron Hamilton as the top official to lead FEMA, with the title “Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator,” who still remains in the position today.
The president has yet to even nominate a FEMA administrator, among rumors that he may select Florida emergency manager Kevin Guthrie. Congress enacted the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to ensure future administrators have demonstrated emergency management and homeland security knowledge and background, and a minimum of five years of executive leadership and management experience in the public or private sector. In fact, members of Congress requested the Government Accountability Office to determine whether Cameron Hamilton legally meets these requirements. Maybe the next step Congress should take is to set a minimum period by which a President nominates a FEMA administrator.
In alarming news from CNN on April 12, Cameron Hamilton and 50 FEMA staff were given lie detector tests for allegedly leaking “national security information” after taking part in a meeting with top DHS officials. While Cameron Hamilton was cleared, some officials “failed” the polygraph test and were escorted out of the building, instilling a culture of fear at FEMA. This culture of fear is a double whammy on an agency that was already understaffed and overstretched.
6: Disbanding critical advisory councils
During the first week of the Trump administration, officials disbanded FEMA advisory councils based on a Department of Homeland Security January 20th memo.. Advisory councils are critical to assisting agencies with collecting unbiased, science-based analysis and recommendations on policies and programs. President Trump has terminated the following advisory councils—each of which were established by acts of Congress—representing a continued overreach by the executive branch:
- FEMA’s National Advisory Committee (NAC) was established by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to help address needs and gaps in disaster assistance and planning, among others. The current administration has taken the previous NAC reports down, and they are available by email request only. However, you can find the 40-member NAC 2024 report here—their largest portfolio and largest collaboration of work. I hope the FEMA review council will read this NAC report and its 15 recommendations, as well as the previous NAC reports.
- The Technical Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC) was established by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 to help improve and review FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), to recommend updates to standards, guidance, and technology, and to incorporate climate change science. In its very significant and latest 2023 report on future conditions, the TMAC had six major recommendations, including to add a second flood hazard layer to help communities plan for climate change related impacts into the future.
- The National Dam Safety Review Board was established by the 1996 National Dam Safety Program Act included in the Water Resources Development Act that year, and helps to ensure federal standards are updated and that states are in federal compliance with these standards. Dam failures can be deadly and are critical given the number of dams across the US. The Association of State Dam Safety Officials analysis of state programs found that from January 2005 through June 2013 there were 173 dam failures and 587 episodes that would have become failures if not for state intervention.
What’s next?
It’s hard to cover all of President Trump’s attacks on FEMA in one post. Moving forward, we can expect more of the same by the Trump administration: continued attacks, lack of transparency, mistrust within FEMA, mis- and disinformation—and perhaps worse, I suspect. In the interim, the FEMA Review Council will begin to compile recommendations and process their report to the President. More will be revealed in the coming weeks and months on disaster assistance as FEMA begins to implement the April 12 memo, and as we get closer to the start of Atlantic hurricane season.
FEMA staff will continue to be worried about the readiness of the agency to respond when disasters hit, and will be over stretched when they do. State, local, Tribal and territorial governments will try to keep up with the chaotic changes under FEMA and must brace themselves for the reality that FEMA may not be there for them when disasters strike as we enter Danger Season.
During forthcoming budget negotiations, it’s crucial that Congress provide robust funding for FEMA to fulfill its mission. Giving in to the Trump administration’s proposals to make drastic cuts in FEMA’s budget and staffing will just risk leaving communities in peril when disasters strike, and increase hardship as they struggle to recover after the worst happens.
We must continue to sunlight the lack of transparency, point out mis- and disinformation, and advocate for science-based and publicly informed decision making and investments. Congress must ensure any changes moving forward happen through the proper channels, not by sidelining science and democracy.