Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) finds itself at the heart of a growing storm—only this time, the threat comes from within. On Monday, August 25, 2025, nearly 200 current and former FEMA employees sent an open letter to Congress, warning that recent agency cuts and the appointment of unqualified leaders could set the stage for another disaster on the scale of Katrina. Their message is clear: the progress made since that fateful hurricane is at risk of unraveling, and the consequences could be dire.
"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 reads, according to TNND. The signatories—more than 180 in total, including 146 who signed anonymously—represent a broad cross-section of FEMA’s workforce, both past and present. Their warning arrives at a moment of heightened anxiety, with the 2025 hurricane season already underway and recent natural disasters putting FEMA's response capabilities to the test.
Hurricane Katrina, which struck in 2005, remains a painful memory for many Americans. The storm claimed over 1,800 lives, with nearly 1,400 deaths in New Orleans alone after levees failed, and exposed glaring failures in the federal disaster response. In the aftermath, Congress passed the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA) in 2006, introducing safeguards meant to prevent such shortcomings from recurring. Yet, as the letter points out, "two decades later, FEMA is enacting processes and leadership structures that echo the conditions PKEMRA was designed to prevent."
The employees’ letter is more than a nostalgic plea to remember Katrina; it is a pointed critique of recent decisions made by the Trump administration and its appointees. This past February, more than 200 FEMA employees were fired or had their positions eliminated in a sweeping workforce reduction. Over 400 positions were also cut at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees FEMA. The agency’s acting chief, Cameron Hamilton, was dismissed in May and replaced by David Richardson—neither of whom, the letter notes, had any prior emergency management experience.
Richardson’s leadership quickly raised eyebrows. In June, he reportedly told FEMA staff that he was previously unaware the United States even had a hurricane season. During his first all-hands meeting, he declared he would "run right over" anyone who got in his way, and vowed to enforce President Donald Trump’s agenda. This approach, critics argue, prioritizes political loyalty over the technical expertise that disaster response requires.
The consequences of these changes have already been felt. FEMA’s response to the July 2025 floods in Texas—which killed at least 136 people—drew sharp criticism. According to TNND, survivor calls to FEMA went unanswered, and Urban Search and Rescue teams were deployed late. The delay was attributed to a new policy requiring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to personally approve any FEMA expenditure over $100,000. The letter’s signatories argue that this policy, along with others, "reduces FEMA’s ability to perform its missions" when lives are on the line.
Beyond the immediate operational concerns, the letter lays out six "statements of opposition" to current FEMA policies. These include objections to the expenditure approval policy, the reassignment of FEMA employees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the failure to appoint a qualified FEMA administrator as required by law, and cuts to mitigation programs, preparedness training, and the overall workforce. The signatories emphasize that a third of FEMA’s full-time staff have left, resulting in the loss of "irreplaceable institutional knowledge and long-built relationships." They also cite the abrupt termination of a pre-disaster mitigation program as a dangerous step backward.
In a particularly forceful passage, the letter asserts, "Decisions made by FEMA’s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator (SOPDA) David Richardson, Former SOPDA Cameron Hamilton, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem erode the capacity of FEMA and our State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) partners, hinder the swift execution of our mission, and dismiss experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management." The employees call on Congress to establish FEMA as an independent, Cabinet-level agency, shield it from further interference by DHS, protect employees from politically motivated firings, and demand transparency about internal employment policies and future agency reductions.
Agency leadership and the administration, however, have defended the changes. In statements to The Independent, FEMA Acting Press Secretary Daniel Llargues and a DHS spokesperson said, "For too long, FEMA was bogged down by red tape, inefficiency, and outdated processes that failed to get disaster dollars into survivors’ hands." They emphasized that billions of dollars in aid have been delivered under the current leadership. "It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform," the statement continued. "Americans deserve better than the slow, inadequate disaster responses of the past. Thanks to Secretary Noem’s leadership, FEMA is turning the page and becoming the accountable, deployable disaster force the American people deserve."
The White House, for its part, has signaled a broader rethinking of FEMA’s role. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Independent, "Effective response and recovery from disasters relies on strong local and state leadership. While Federal assistance was always intended to supplement state actions, not replace those actions, FEMA’s outsized role created a bloated bureaucracy that disincentivized state investment in their own resilience." President Trump has floated the idea of remaking or even dismantling FEMA, suggesting that disaster response should be primarily a state responsibility. Secretary Noem, as co-chair of a FEMA Review Council, is expected to recommend changes to the agency’s structure and responsibilities.
Not everyone is convinced that shifting more responsibility to the states is a good idea. Sara McTarnaghan, principal research associate at the Urban Institute, told the Associated Press, "Very few of them would have had enough funds set aside to anticipate the federal government stepping back from its historic role in disaster recovery for major events." The number of billion-dollar natural disasters has surged in recent decades, from just three a year in the 1980s to 19 annually in the last decade, according to Climate Central. Human-caused climate change has intensified storms, making events like Hurricane Helene’s record-breaking Atlantic path far more likely.
Hurricane survivors, too, have voiced their concerns. In a joint statement shared by the Sierra Club, three survivors of Hurricane Helene said, "We can’t carry the load alone—nor should we be expected to. To lay the burden solely at the feet of survivors and states is shortsighted and ignores the need for a responsive, functional, and caring federal system that prioritizes those of us who have lost so much."
As Congress weighs the future of FEMA, the stakes could hardly be higher. With climate-driven disasters on the rise and institutional memory eroding, the nation’s ability to respond swiftly and effectively is being tested once again. The debate over FEMA’s structure and mission is about more than bureaucracy—it’s about who will be there when the next storm hits.
