Latest news with #MichaelCoen
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
As Texas cleans up, ex-staffers say Fema has ‘eroded capacity' for multiple disasters
As the cleanup continues from this month's torrential rain storms and flooding in Texas that left more than 120 dead, recently departed officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) say the organization is dangerously underresourced and overstretched in the event of further natural catastrophes. A mass staff exodus, plunging morale and a loss of key leaders has left the main US disaster-relief organization ill-equipped to cope with an anticipated deadly spate of storms in the current hurricane season, former agency insiders say. Fema's weakness, exacerbated by grant cuts imposed by the Trump administration and the loss of institutional knowledge in strategic leadership positions, will be exposed if the nation is faced with more than one disaster simultaneously, according to Michael Coen, the agency's former chief of staff. In an interview, Coen – who left his post in January after Donald Trump took office – said the officials at Fema had been preparing contingency plans that would enable the agency to meet the demands of hurricane season, which generally runs from early June until the end of November, with fewer resources. 'They understand that they don't have the resources they've had in past years, whether it's funding or even some contracts have lapsed,' he said. 'They are trying to make decisions so that they can handle multiple events at one time.' But since Trump's inauguration, the agency has seen an estimated 2,000 departures through resignations or retirements, which may have rendered it incapable of coping with the widespread carnage likely to be wreaked by a succession of tropical storms. 'I'm concerned that Fema is going to be at a disadvantage because they don't have the resources to respond to the disasters we know could happen, which could be two or three concurrent disasters at the same time,' said Coen. 'Fema has eroded capacity since President Trump became president. Staff have departed. There have been cuts to grant programs and they are going to be running into a financial challenge with the disaster relief fund, because the president hasn't requested supplemental funding from Congress.' Coen – a disaster relief career official who was also Fema's chief of staff during Barack Obama's presidency – said the cuts could mean the agency running out of funds to respond to disasters by the end of this month. 'Fema is currently supporting the state of Texas with the flooding and the urban search and rescue. But if in a week or two they also have to respond to a hurricane in the Gulf coast or an earthquake on the west coast, Fema is not going to be able to meet the expectations of the American people.' The concerns over Fema's state of readiness come amid signs that Trump may have had a change of heart about the agency's future after months of signaling that he favored its abolition. Last month, he said the administration planned to 'phase out' Fema after the current hurricane season to put more responsibility on individual states to respond to disasters. He previously described the agency – established in 1979 by Jimmy Carter with the goal of coordinating the US government's response to disasters – as 'not good' and said he would 'recommend that Fema go away'. But ahead of Trump's Friday visit to the worst-hit Texas flood areas, White House officials indicated that eliminating Fema entirely was no longer under consideration, the Washington Post reported. The newspaper quoted an unnamed official as saying changes would probably amount to 'rebranding' the agency while stressing the leadership role of the states in disaster response. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary – who has overall responsibility for Fema and has chaired a review council looking into the agency's future – said in the wake of the Texas floods that Fema would be 'eliminated as it exists today and remade into a responsive agency', a hardline stance that nonetheless stopped short of abolition. Coen said the Texas floods had proved Fema's worth: 'This flood is a defining moment and brings clarity for the necessity of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fema is an essential agency for the federal government to support states and support the American people in their greatest time of need.' But he said grant cuts had rendered it less effective and may have caused 'an unnecessary loss of life' in the Guadalupe River area of the Texas Hill Country, the worst-hit flood region. 'One of the grant programs they cut was the Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities, which was a program that would have funded things like the siren system to line a river like the [Guadalupe] in Kerr county,' he said. 'Not that many people needed to lose their lives if more mitigation measures had been put in place. With the president cutting a grant program that provides federal funding to increase mitigation in the country, it only is foreboding for the future on what could happen to other communities if they don't mitigate and they don't have access to federal funds.' The picture of an agency undermined by the Trump administration's hostility was corroborated by a former mid-level Fema official, who told the Guardian that staff had left because they felt disrespected. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'It's no secret that a lot of high-level leaders have left the agency,' the ex-official said. 'It's clear that Fema has lost a lot of leadership capability.' Among those who have left are Tony Robinson, who was Fema's head administrator for the region that includes Texas, as well as his deputy. Also recently departing was Robert Samaan, the administrator for the region that covers Florida and several other states in the hurricane-prone south-east. 'Those are two of the three most critical regional administrators for hurricane season, and for them to leave at this time leaves people shaken for sure,' the former staffer said. 'The lack of experienced leadership is certainly going to hamstring efforts. It's not to say that there aren't other good leaders who will step up. But LinkedIn is littered with people whose names I knew who have left.' The departure of 16 senior executives was announced on a single day in May. Compounding the problem is the damage to the morale of those remaining from what insiders say is the scornful attitude of Noem and Fema's acting administrator, David Richardson, a former marine artillery officer with no previous experience in disaster management. Richardson, who has been in the post since May, caused a stir among senior staff when he said during a briefing that he did not know there was a hurricane season. It was unclear if the comments were meant as a joke. Richardson was installed after Noem ousted his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, after he told a congressional hearing that he did not favor Fema's abolition. The new administrator also threatened to 'run right over' any staff members who resisted reforms. 'I, and I alone in Fema, speak for Fema. I'm here to carry out the president's intent for Fema,' he reportedly said. Coen affirmed the picture of staff leaving due to fears for Fema's future. 'The reason many employees have departed since January 20 is because they had a fear that they were going to lose their job,' he said. 'Also, they didn't feel respected by the current administration. The current employees still there are supporting each other, but if they feel they are not getting support and understanding of how much they sacrifice when they go to disasters, it does have an impact on their mental health and wellbeing.' Noem, meanwhile, has drawn criticism for issuing a decree requiring that any expenditures or contracts worth $100,000 or more are submitted to her for prior approval – a requirement that critics say could impede rapid disaster response. 'Typically, pre-Trump, a decision like that would come at a much lower level than the secretary of homeland security so you could get out and mobilize,' the former official said. 'It's just unconscionable that you would centralize a decision like that, [which] truly, on reflection, would have led to the loss of life, or at least the loss of the ability to find the remains of the victims.' The Department of Homeland Security has publicly defended the directive as necessary to root out 'waste, fraud and abuse' and deliver 'accountability' to US taxpayers.
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
As Texas cleans up, ex-staffers say Fema has ‘eroded capacity' for multiple disasters
As the cleanup continues from this month's torrential rain storms and flooding in Texas that left more than 120 dead, recently departed officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) say the organization is dangerously underresourced and overstretched in the event of further natural catastrophes. A mass staff exodus, plunging morale and a loss of key leaders has left the main US disaster-relief organization ill-equipped to cope with an anticipated deadly spate of storms in the current hurricane season, former agency insiders say. Fema's weakness, exacerbated by grant cuts imposed by the Trump administration and the loss of institutional knowledge in strategic leadership positions, will be exposed if the nation is faced with more than one disaster simultaneously, according to Michael Coen, the agency's former chief of staff. In an interview, Coen – who left his post in January after Donald Trump took office – said the officials at Fema had been preparing contingency plans that would enable the agency to meet the demands of hurricane season, which generally runs from early June until the end of November, with fewer resources. 'They understand that they don't have the resources they've had in past years, whether it's funding or even some contracts have lapsed,' he said. 'They are trying to make decisions so that they can handle multiple events at one time.' But since Trump's inauguration, the agency has seen an estimated 2,000 departures through resignations or retirements, which may have rendered it incapable of coping with the widespread carnage likely to be wreaked by a succession of tropical storms. 'I'm concerned that Fema is going to be at a disadvantage because they don't have the resources to respond to the disasters we know could happen, which could be two or three concurrent disasters at the same time,' said Coen. 'Fema has eroded capacity since President Trump became president. Staff have departed. There have been cuts to grant programs and they are going to be running into a financial challenge with the disaster relief fund, because the president hasn't requested supplemental funding from Congress.' Coen – a disaster relief career official who was also Fema's chief of staff during Barack Obama's presidency – said the cuts could mean the agency running out of funds to respond to disasters by the end of this month. 'Fema is currently supporting the state of Texas with the flooding and the urban search and rescue. But if in a week or two they also have to respond to a hurricane in the Gulf coast or an earthquake on the west coast, Fema is not going to be able to meet the expectations of the American people.' The concerns over Fema's state of readiness come amid signs that Trump may have had a change of heart about the agency's future after months of signaling that he favored its abolition. Last month, he said the administration planned to 'phase out' Fema after the current hurricane season to put more responsibility on individual states to respond to disasters. He previously described the agency – established in 1979 by Jimmy Carter with the goal of coordinating the US government's response to disasters – as 'not good' and said he would 'recommend that Fema go away'. But ahead of Trump's Friday visit to the worst-hit Texas flood areas, White House officials indicated that eliminating Fema entirely was no longer under consideration, the Washington Post reported. The newspaper quoted an unnamed official as saying changes would probably amount to 'rebranding' the agency while stressing the leadership role of the states in disaster response. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary – who has overall responsibility for Fema and has chaired a review council looking into the agency's future – said in the wake of the Texas floods that Fema would be 'eliminated as it exists today and remade into a responsive agency', a hardline stance that nonetheless stopped short of abolition. Coen said the Texas floods had proved Fema's worth: 'This flood is a defining moment and brings clarity for the necessity of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fema is an essential agency for the federal government to support states and support the American people in their greatest time of need.' But he said grant cuts had rendered it less effective and may have caused 'an unnecessary loss of life' in the Guadalupe River area of the Texas Hill Country, the worst-hit flood region. 'One of the grant programs they cut was the Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities, which was a program that would have funded things like the siren system to line a river like the [Guadalupe] in Kerr county,' he said. 'Not that many people needed to lose their lives if more mitigation measures had been put in place. With the president cutting a grant program that provides federal funding to increase mitigation in the country, it only is foreboding for the future on what could happen to other communities if they don't mitigate and they don't have access to federal funds.' The picture of an agency undermined by the Trump administration's hostility was corroborated by a former mid-level Fema official, who told the Guardian that staff had left because they felt disrespected. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'It's no secret that a lot of high-level leaders have left the agency,' the ex-official said. 'It's clear that Fema has lost a lot of leadership capability.' Among those who have left are Tony Robinson, who was Fema's head administrator for the region that includes Texas, as well as his deputy. Also recently departing was Robert Samaan, the administrator for the region that covers Florida and several other states in the hurricane-prone south-east. 'Those are two of the three most critical regional administrators for hurricane season, and for them to leave at this time leaves people shaken for sure,' the former staffer said. 'The lack of experienced leadership is certainly going to hamstring efforts. It's not to say that there aren't other good leaders who will step up. But LinkedIn is littered with people whose names I knew who have left.' The departure of 16 senior executives was announced on a single day in May. Compounding the problem is the damage to the morale of those remaining from what insiders say is the scornful attitude of Noem and Fema's acting administrator, David Richardson, a former marine artillery officer with no previous experience in disaster management. Richardson, who has been in the post since May, caused a stir among senior staff when he said during a briefing that he did not know there was a hurricane season. It was unclear if the comments were meant as a joke. Richardson was installed after Noem ousted his predecessor, Cameron Hamilton, after he told a congressional hearing that he did not favor Fema's abolition. The new administrator also threatened to 'run right over' any staff members who resisted reforms. 'I, and I alone in Fema, speak for Fema. I'm here to carry out the president's intent for Fema,' he reportedly said. Coen affirmed the picture of staff leaving due to fears for Fema's future. 'The reason many employees have departed since January 20 is because they had a fear that they were going to lose their job,' he said. 'Also, they didn't feel respected by the current administration. The current employees still there are supporting each other, but if they feel they are not getting support and understanding of how much they sacrifice when they go to disasters, it does have an impact on their mental health and wellbeing.' Noem, meanwhile, has drawn criticism for issuing a decree requiring that any expenditures or contracts worth $100,000 or more are submitted to her for prior approval – a requirement that critics say could impede rapid disaster response. 'Typically, pre-Trump, a decision like that would come at a much lower level than the secretary of homeland security so you could get out and mobilize,' the former official said. 'It's just unconscionable that you would centralize a decision like that, [which] truly, on reflection, would have led to the loss of life, or at least the loss of the ability to find the remains of the victims.' The Department of Homeland Security has publicly defended the directive as necessary to root out 'waste, fraud and abuse' and deliver 'accountability' to US taxpayers.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Amidst FEMA staff cuts, worries grow about summer hurricane, tornado seasons
Federal Emergency Management Agency employees are trained to respond to disasters, but have struggled this spring with the situation unfolding at their agency. While they've been deployed to wildfires in Los Angeles, flooding along the Kentucky River and throughout the southeast in response to Hurricane Helene, FEMA workers have watched a roiling turmoil of staff cuts, slashed budgets and threats to dismantle their agency. They're fielding difficult questions from friends, co-workers and disaster victims about what the future holds. 'It's caused a lot of confusion,' said Michael Coen, a FEMA veteran of more than 15 years who left his position as chief of staff on Inauguration Day. At least 2,000 of the agency's roughly 6,100 full-time employees have either left or plan to leave under the waves of terminations and voluntary retirements ordered by Elon Musk's Department of Governmental Efficiency, Coen told USA TODAY. That doesn't include a reduction in force expected to take place in the federal government in the coming weeks. President Donald Trump also has launched an agency review and cut funds for some FEMA grant programs, outraging officials in states where those funds already had been committed. The controversy taps into a long-running debate over the role of states and the federal government in disaster response. It's hard to find a public official who doesn't think the way the nation responds to disasters could be improved, but the 30% cut in its full-time staff raises concerns about whether FEMA will be able to respond to major disasters during the approaching summer storm season that could bring hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires. Jay Inslee, whose term as the Democratic governor of Washington State ended in January, is among those gravely concerned about FEMA's ability to respond. 'Gutting FEMA is just going to make more and more families have to be living under blue tarps for years, and not to have the financial assistance they deserve when they pay their taxes," Inslee said. 'I'm outraged on their behalf.' Major disasters require federal resources, and state and local governments cannot cope on their own, said Shana Udvardy, senior climate resilience policy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists 'With the summer danger season of extreme weather, including climate-fueled disasters, getting underway soon, these attacks on FEMA could not come at a worse time,' Udvardy said. "Congress must push back assertively on these egregious plans in a bipartisan way ‒ disasters do not discriminate based on politics.' When enormous natural disasters befall communities, especially small ones, they just don't have the local resources, Inslee said. 'It's basically everybody pitching in together from the county to the Red Cross to the state, to the federal government.' FEMA's remaining full-time employees, even those who work at headquarters and don't typically deploy, have been warned to be ready to deploy to disasters this summer. The agency has been short-staffed for years, federal documents show. The staff flexes up and down as the need arises, with roughly 12,000 employees who respond as reservists or local temporary hires. Among the cuts this year to the permanent employees were 200 probationary staff, dismissed because they had been either recently hired or recently promoted. Coen said another 800 took the 'fork-in-the-road' plan that placed employees on administrative leave with pay until the end of the summer, when they'd lose their jobs. 'A lot of people with the agency were just exhausted,' he said. 'Last year was a very challenging year for FEMA employees with all the disasters that took place, plus all the (Hurricane) Helene misinformation.' In the aftermath of Helene, some FEMA officials found their personal information had been made public on the web, and some were threatened. 'Getting rid of FEMA:' Takeaways from Trump's trip to two disaster zones The inauguration opened a new chapter. Trump had been critical of FEMA during the campaign, and his first official trip was to visit the Helene disaster zone in western North Carolina, where he said the administration was "very disappointed" in FEMA. After information was leaked from one early meeting with the new FEMA officials, at least a dozen staff members were asked to submit to lie detector tests, Coen said. Employees are afraid to talk, even to former colleagues, because they're afraid they might be subjected to a lie detector, Coen said. 'If the head of the agency isn't even respected by the Secretary's office, if he's being subjected to a lie detector test, you know, why would I stay here?' Even some of the younger staff are thinking, 'I don't need this anxiety," he said. FEMA responds to every major natural disaster, assessing damage and providing assistance under pre-established guidelines and state agreements. In Washington State, "FEMA has been a tremendous, absolutely essential partner," Inslee said. "From a boots-on-the-ground perspective, FEMA has been incredibly valuable." In recent years, FEMA has seen an enormous increase in the number of disasters that require a response. That's, in part, because the number of extreme weather events is rising, with more intense rainfall and larger wildfires brought on by climate change, Inslee said. That's backed up by numerous federal reports. The scope and complexity of disasters are also growing because more people live in vulnerable areas, where they're more exposed to storms and fires. In the current fiscal year, the agency carries financial obligations for 30 major disasters, dating back to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to its February 2025 monthly report. Its actual and estimated total obligations for those disasters are around $57 billion. Its budget authority for this year was $33 million. The agency's reputation has struggled in part because FEMA meets people when they are likely to be at their lowest, most desperate point, and, in part, because its mission is often misunderstood, Coen said. FEMA is supposed to function primarily as a backstop for people who don't have insurance. It covers uninsured losses, so if you have homeowners insurance, "you're probably not going to be eligible," he said. "That frustrates people who feel like they did everything right." Victims often expect FEMA to be there first, even though the agency must wait to be requested by state government. That message is often hammered home by emergency management officials, who remind residents to store enough supplies for five to seven days after a disaster. What does FEMA do? What to know after Trump considers 'getting rid' of agency The agency's mission has evolved and it walks a tightrope at times between trying to battle fraud and not attach so many rules that money can't get where it needs to. State and local officials often refer to the recovery phase as the "disaster after the disaster." A General Accounting Office Report in 2022 made numerous suggestions for addressing "red tape" in disaster recovery. Coen said a prime example of the misunderstandings is the frustration from states where the Trump administration recently denied claims for disaster assistance and denied extensions of certain assistance in others. "I'm personally not critical of that," he said. When the federal government takes the bulk of the financial responsibility, it often slows down recovery, he said, adding that when new bridges or other infrastructures are complete, other officials and organizations sometimes take credit and forget to acknowledge FEMA's role. By executive order on Jan. 24, Trump ordered a "full-scale review" of FEMA. Federal responses to Helene and other disasters "demonstrate the need to drastically improve" the agency's efficiency, priorities and competence, his executive order stated.. Appointees to the review council, announced April 28, will be tasked with taking a sweeping look at everything from disaster aid during periods before and after FEMA, the traditional role of states and citizens in securing life, liberty and property and how FEMA could serve as a support agency if the states were in control of disaster relief. They're expected to make recommendations to Trump for improvements or structural changes to promote the national interest and enable national resilience. Members include Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Florida's emergency management chief Kevin Guthrie and Tampa, Florida, Mayor Jane Castor. Noem already has stated she wants to eliminate FEMA. On Truth Social, Trump posted: "I know that the new Members will work hard to fix a terribly broken System, and return power to State Emergency Managers." Udvardy, with the Union of Concerned Scientists, is among many who agree there's room for reform at the federal agency. Genuine reforms, she said, "should be informed by science, expertise, and the experiences of disaster survivors." Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. The start of the Atlantic hurricane season is just a month away. Dinah Voyles Pulver covers climate change, disasters and the environment for USA TODAY. Reach her at dpulver@ or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FEMA staff gutted as nation debates agency's future
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FEMA email: Firings will affect ‘majority of our staff'
The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to fire Federal Emergency Management Agency staff who have worked on addressing climate change or promoting equity and diversity, according to interviews and emails obtained by POLITICO's E&E News — on top of the hundreds of probationary employees it removed during Presidents Day weekend. The already-strapped disaster agency is being directed to 'come up with employee reductions far beyond the probationary list,' a top FEMA official wrote in an internal email sent recently to senior agency staff. 'Direction is to make a list of anyone who worked on or works on climate, environmental justice, equity, DEIA,' the email reads, referring to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. The email obtained by E&E News was cropped to not include the name of the sender. Another internal email, sent on Wednesday, told rank-and-file employees to 'scrub' terms from agency records that Trump highlighted in his executive orders on climate change and diversity. Any document with taboo phrases will be put into an archive folder that will be deleted in three years. 'They're trying to systematically erase everything that happened before,' said one FEMA employee who is posted at a disaster site and has been pulled away from helping survivors get their damaged homes inspected so repairs can begin. 'It is taking away from time doing on-the-ground disaster-recovery work.' The firings could impair an agency that has faced chronic staffing shortages amid intensifying disasters and heightened scrutiny. FEMA employees were so overwhelmed in October responding to severe hurricane damage in six states that the agency was forced to seek help from other federal agencies. 'The next time there's a major catastrophic event that requires extensive manpower, FEMA's going to be at a disadvantage,' said Michael Coen, the agency's chief of staff in the Biden administration. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement that "FEMA was actually short-staffed before Elon and his minions went to FEMA headquarters, and now the agency will be further hampered." FEMA confirmed to E&E News that it had fired more than 200 employees and that other agencies in the Department of Homeland Security had fired another 200. 'Under President Trump's leadership, we are making sweeping cuts and reform across the federal government to eliminate egregious waste and incompetence that has been happening for decades at the expense of the American taxpayer,' a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. They said the firings will cut roughly $50 million in personnel costs. The department said it fired 'non-mission critical personnel in probationary status' and is 'actively identifying other wasteful positions and offices that do not fulfill DHS' mission.' President Donald Trump has assailed FEMA since taking office, suggesting he might shut down the agency, targeting its response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and creating a review council led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The upcoming firings could have a broad reach because under then-President Joe Biden, FEMA emphasized climate change and equity. 'This will impact the majority of our staff,' the FEMA email says, noting that climate and equity were prioritized in the latest agency strategic plan, released in 2022 and recently removed from FEMA's website. FEMA leadership will "compile the names of ALL employees that worked on these topics," according to the email, written by a member of FEMA's senior executive service. The official wrote that the agency will make a distinction between employees with "significant involvement" in the targeted programs and those with "insignificant involvement." "I know this feels like a shock to many of you and is an exceedingly difficult task," the official wrote in the email. The firings 'put a lot of really important programs on life support,' a former senior FEMA official said. 'If you care about government efficiency, you don't indiscriminately fire. You focus on honing your capabilities to be more efficient.' The upcoming firings appear likely to target FEMA's resilience directorate, which includes the agency's grant programs and flood insurance program. FEMA has three other directorates including the Office of Response and Recovery, which deals with immediate disaster response. On Monday, FEMA sent emails with the subject line 'Termination Notice' to more than 200 probationary employees in agency offices around the country. 'Your position with the Federal Emergency Management Agency will end on Tuesday, February 18, 2025,' an email obtained by E&E News says. The email notes that after the Office of Personnel Management received a list on Jan. 24 of FEMA probationary employees, 'a decision was reached that it is not in the best interest of the government to retain you in your current role.' 'Thank you for your contributions furthering the FEMA mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters,' the email concludes. The fired employees worked full-time jobs in FEMA headquarters and its 10 regional offices. The FEMA employees who respond on the ground to disasters — reservists who are called up as needed — were not targeted. The targeting of probationary employees resulted in the dismissal of senior FEMA employees with significant roles. Christopher Page, who had worked at FEMA since 2011, mostly as a lawyer, was fired Monday because he had changed positions recently inside the agency and was on probationary status in his new job. 'It's weird to spend nearly 15 years dedicated to public service, a decade of which I spent working specifically in the flood insurance space, and then get terminated for being a 'new' employee,' Page wrote Monday on his LinkedIn page. Page led a team that worked to improve public access to FEMA's flood insurance program, which covers 4.7 million properties. David Maurstad, a FEMA veteran who ran the insurance program before retiring in July, called Page's firing 'a travesty.' 'Chris was among the finest I worked with,' Maurstad, a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska, wrote on LinkedIn. 'I hope everyone truly understands what collateral damage looks like.'
Politico
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Politico
FEMA email: Firings will affect ‘majority of our staff'
The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to fire Federal Emergency Management Agency staff who have worked on addressing climate change or promoting equity and diversity, according to interviews and emails obtained by POLITICO's E&E News — on top of the hundreds of probationary employees it removed during Presidents Day weekend. The already-strapped disaster agency is being directed to 'come up with employee reductions far beyond the probationary list,' a top FEMA official wrote in an internal email sent recently to senior agency staff. 'Direction is to make a list of anyone who worked on or works on climate, environmental justice, equity, DEIA,' the email reads, referring to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. The email obtained by E&E News was cropped to not include the name of the sender. Another internal email, sent on Wednesday, told rank-and-file employees to 'scrub' terms from agency records that Trump highlighted in his executive orders on climate change and diversity. Any document with taboo phrases will be put into an archive folder that will be deleted in three years. 'They're trying to systematically erase everything that happened before,' said one FEMA employee who is posted at a disaster site and has been pulled away from helping survivors get their damaged homes inspected so repairs can begin. 'It is taking away from time doing on-the-ground disaster-recovery work.' The firings could impair an agency that has faced chronic staffing shortages amid intensifying disasters and heightened scrutiny. FEMA employees were so overwhelmed in October responding to severe hurricane damage in six states that the agency was forced to seek help from other federal agencies. 'The next time there's a major catastrophic event that requires extensive manpower, FEMA's going to be at a disadvantage,' said Michael Coen, the agency's chief of staff in the Biden administration. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement that 'FEMA was actually short-staffed before Elon and his minions went to FEMA headquarters, and now the agency will be further hampered.' FEMA confirmed to E&E News that it had fired more than 200 employees and that other agencies in the Department of Homeland Security had fired another 200. 'Under President Trump's leadership, we are making sweeping cuts and reform across the federal government to eliminate egregious waste and incompetence that has been happening for decades at the expense of the American taxpayer,' a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. They said the firings will cut roughly $50 million in personnel costs. The department said it fired 'non-mission critical personnel in probationary status' and is 'actively identifying other wasteful positions and offices that do not fulfill DHS' mission.' President Donald Trump has assailed FEMA since taking office, suggesting he might shut down the agency, targeting its response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and creating a review council led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The upcoming firings could have a broad reach because under then-President Joe Biden, FEMA emphasized climate change and equity. 'This will impact the majority of our staff,' the FEMA email says, noting that climate and equity were prioritized in the latest agency strategic plan, released in 2022 and recently removed from FEMA's website. FEMA leadership will 'compile the names of ALL employees that worked on these topics,' according to the email, written by a member of FEMA's senior executive service. The official wrote that the agency will make a distinction between employees with 'significant involvement' in the targeted programs and those with 'insignificant involvement.' 'I know this feels like a shock to many of you and is an exceedingly difficult task,' the official wrote in the email. The firings 'put a lot of really important programs on life support,' a former senior FEMA official said. 'If you care about government efficiency, you don't indiscriminately fire. You focus on honing your capabilities to be more efficient.' The upcoming firings appear likely to target FEMA's resilience directorate, which includes the agency's grant programs and flood insurance program. FEMA has three other directorates including the Office of Response and Recovery, which deals with immediate disaster response. On Monday, FEMA sent emails with the subject line 'Termination Notice' to more than 200 probationary employees in agency offices around the country. 'Your position with the Federal Emergency Management Agency will end on Tuesday, February 18, 2025,' an email obtained by E&E News says. The email notes that after the Office of Personnel Management received a list on Jan. 24 of FEMA probationary employees, 'a decision was reached that it is not in the best interest of the government to retain you in your current role.' 'Thank you for your contributions furthering the FEMA mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters,' the email concludes. The fired employees worked full-time jobs in FEMA headquarters and its 10 regional offices. The FEMA employees who respond on the ground to disasters — reservists who are called up as needed — were not targeted. The targeting of probationary employees resulted in the dismissal of senior FEMA employees with significant roles. Christopher Page, who had worked at FEMA since 2011, mostly as a lawyer, was fired Monday because he had changed positions recently inside the agency and was on probationary status in his new job. 'It's weird to spend nearly 15 years dedicated to public service, a decade of which I spent working specifically in the flood insurance space, and then get terminated for being a 'new' employee,' Page wrote Monday on his LinkedIn page. Page led a team that worked to improve public access to FEMA's flood insurance program, which covers 4.7 million properties. David Maurstad, a FEMA veteran who ran the insurance program before retiring in July, called Page's firing 'a travesty.' 'Chris was among the finest I worked with,' Maurstad, a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska, wrote on LinkedIn. 'I hope everyone truly understands what collateral damage looks like.'
