More than 180 current and former employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have taken the unusual step of publicly warning Congress and the American people that sweeping cuts, departures, and policy changes under the Trump administration risk repeating the catastrophic failures seen after Hurricane Katrina. The open letter, published Monday, August 25, 2025, arrives as the nation marks the 20th anniversary of Katrina—a disaster that claimed over 1,800 lives and forever changed the way the United States thinks about emergency response.
"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 declares, as reported by AP and Al Jazeera. The statement, signed by 35 named individuals and 146 anonymous colleagues, is a rare public dissent from within a federal agency, especially under an administration known for its fierce approach toward critics.
The letter’s timing is no accident. It coincides with the week of Katrina’s 20th anniversary—a moment that, for many, recalls the federal government’s profound failures and the subsequent passage of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA) in 2006. That law was designed to overhaul FEMA and prevent the very kinds of breakdowns in leadership and response that the signatories now warn are re-emerging.
"Two decades later, FEMA is enacting processes and leadership structures that echo the conditions PKEMRA was designed to prevent," the letter states. The authors argue that recent policy decisions and management changes have eroded FEMA’s ability to respond to disasters, putting millions of Americans at risk just as hurricane season intensifies.
The most immediate flashpoint for criticism is FEMA’s response to the July 7, 2025, Texas floods, which killed at least 135 people (some reports place the number at 136). Survivors reported that calls to FEMA went unanswered, and Urban Search and Rescue teams were deployed late. According to AP, these delays were in part due to a new policy requiring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to personally approve any FEMA expenditure over $100,000—a process that, the letter argues, "reduces FEMA’s authorities and capabilities to swiftly deliver our mission."
The signatories also point to a broader pattern of mismanagement and under-resourcing. One-third of FEMA’s full-time workforce—roughly 2,000 employees—have left or been fired this year, including many high-level staff. The agency’s acting chief, Cameron Hamilton, was fired in May and replaced by David Richardson, a former U.S. Marine and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official with no prior emergency management experience. Richardson reportedly left staff "baffled" when he admitted in June that he was unaware the U.S. had a hurricane season, which runs from June through November, according to Al Jazeera.
Beyond leadership turmoil, the letter highlights six specific "statements of opposition" to current FEMA policies. These include the controversial expenditure approval process, the reassignment of FEMA employees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the failure to appoint a qualified FEMA administrator as required by law, and significant cuts to mitigation programs, preparedness training, and the FEMA workforce.
The Trump administration, for its part, has pushed back against the criticism. FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargues said Monday that the administration "has made accountability and reform a priority so that taxpayer dollars actually reach the people and communities they are meant to help." Llargues added, "It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform. Change is always hard." The administration has denied that cuts to FEMA or other agencies have affected disaster response, instead accusing Democrats of politicizing the recent Texas tragedy.
Still, the letter’s authors argue that the stakes could not be higher. They warn that the combination of staff departures, inexperienced leadership, and restrictive policies threatens to reverse the progress made since Katrina. The letter specifically calls on Congress to establish FEMA as a Cabinet-level independent agency, free from DHS interference. This move, the authors contend, would help ensure that FEMA can act swiftly and effectively in times of crisis, without being hampered by political or bureaucratic obstacles.
Coincidentally, a bipartisan bill—the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act—was introduced in the House last month with the same aim. The letter was sent not only to the FEMA Review Council, a 12-person group of elected officials, emergency managers, and other leaders (mostly from Republican states) appointed by President Trump, but also to multiple Congressional committees. The Council is set to meet for the third time on Thursday, August 28, 2025, a gathering that will now take place under the shadow of this unprecedented letter.
Fear of reprisal has played a clear role in the letter’s composition. Of the 181 total signatories, 141 chose to remain anonymous, citing "the culture of fear and suppression cultivated by this administration." This is not an isolated phenomenon; similar letters have emerged from other federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Institutes of Health. In July, about 140 EPA staff members were placed on administrative leave for signing an opposition letter.
The letter’s authors are not alone in their concerns. Disaster experts and former FEMA officials have pointed out that the agency’s ability to respond to hurricanes, floods, and wildfires depends on experienced leadership, adequate funding, and the freedom to act quickly. The recent Texas floods, which left hundreds dead and thousands displaced, have only heightened anxieties about FEMA’s readiness as the nation heads deeper into hurricane season.
The Trump administration’s plans do not stop at current cuts. According to Al Jazeera, there are proposals to slash about $1 billion in grant funding, affecting FEMA’s emergency management programs, and to shrink the agency’s size and mandate. President Trump has said he wants to leave much more of the burden of disaster response to individual states—a move that critics say would leave the federal government ill-equipped to respond to large-scale emergencies.
As the FEMA Review Council prepares to meet, the debate over the agency’s future has reached a fever pitch. Supporters of the administration argue that reform is necessary to root out inefficiency and waste, while critics warn that the very existence of FEMA as an effective disaster response agency is at stake. The letter’s signatories urge lawmakers to act before another national catastrophe exposes the agency’s vulnerabilities.
For now, the fate of FEMA—and the safety of millions of Americans in the path of future disasters—hangs in the balance. With hurricane season underway and memories of Katrina still raw, the question is whether the warnings from inside the agency will spur change or be lost in the political storm.
