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FEMA workers warn agency at risk of Hurricane Katrina-type failures

<i>Mario Tama/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource</i><br/>Stranded victims of Hurricane Katrina rest inside the Superdome in New Orleans

By CNN Newsource

Published August 25, 2025 1:31 pm

By Gabe Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — More than 180 current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency employees – most signing anonymously – sent a sharply worded letter to Congress on Monday, warning that the Trump administration’s sweeping overhaul is gutting the disaster relief agency’s authority and capabilities, undoing two decades of progress since the failures of Hurricane Katrina.

Titled “Katrina Declaration,” the letter accuses President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, of eroding the agency’s response capabilities and appointing unqualified leadership. The group calls for FEMA to be shielded from political interference and for its workforce to be protected from politically motivated firings.

The warning comes as the nation marks 20 years since Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people. The botched FEMA effort exposed fatal flaws in the federal emergency response system – failures that led Congress to pass sweeping reforms, including the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, which strengthened FEMA’s independence and set higher standards for its leaders.

Now, the letter argues, those reforms are being unraveled, as the Trump administration moves to either abolish or drastically shrink FEMA’s role.

“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.

In May, Noem installed David Richardson – a former Marine combat veteran with no prior experience managing natural disasters – to lead FEMA and filled the agency’s front office with similarly inexperienced aides.

Noem has also imposed strict new spending controls, requiring her personal approval for any contract or grant over $100,000. The policy proved problematic as FEMA teams tried to rapidly respond to the deadly Texas floods in July. Without Noem’s prompt sign-off, FEMA couldn’t pre-position search and rescue teams or fulfill requests for aerial imagery. Thousands of desperate calls from survivors went unanswered after a contract for call center staff lapsed.

According to the letter, roughly a third of FEMA’s full-time staff has left this year, including many of the veteran leaders who helped rebuild the agency after Katrina.

At the same time, DHS, as part of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency effort, has slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in national preparedness funding that serves as the lifeblood of emergency management infrastructure for local communities nationwide.

In June, Trump said he plans to phase out FEMA after hurricane season. “We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down to the state level,” he said.

The Monday letter urges Congress to make FEMA a Cabinet-level, independent agency – insulated from political meddling and empowered to respond swiftly when disaster strikes.

The authors warn, “we hope (these changes) come in time to prevent not only another national catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, but the effective dissolution of FEMA itself and the abandonment of the American people.”