FEMA Employees Warn That Trump Is Gutting Disaster Response

Employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrote to Congress on Monday warning that the Trump administration had reversed much of the progress made in disaster response and recovery since Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast two decades ago.

The letter to Congress, titled the “Katrina Declaration,” rebuked President Trump’s plan to drastically scale down FEMA and shift more responsibility for disaster response — and more costs — to the states. It came days before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest storms to ever strike the United States.

“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 FEMA employees wrote in the letter.

They added that they hoped their warnings would “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 such an event would represent.”

Representatives for FEMA and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi caused an estimated 1,833 deaths and $161 billion in property damage and shook the country’s confidence in the government’s ability to handle disasters. President George W. Bush faced intense criticism for the slow federal response to Katrina’s devastation in New Orleans, leading to the resignation of Mr. Bush’s FEMA administrator, Michael D. Brown, and the passage of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act.

That landmark law imposed new eligibility criteria for FEMA administrators, requiring that they have a “demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management.” It also prohibited the homeland security secretary from interfering with FEMA’s “authorities, responsibilities or functions,” among other things.

But the Trump administration has ignored both requirements of the law, the FEMA employees wrote in the letter.

Mr. Trump installed first one and then another acting FEMA administrator who lack experience in emergency management. The current acting head, David Richardson, told employees in June that he did not know the United States had a hurricane season — a comment that unnerved FEMA employees who heard it. The agency later said Mr. Richardson was joking.

And Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, has become directly involved in FEMA operations. She has imposed new spending rules that have delayed hundreds of FEMA contracts and that hampered FEMA’s response to the catastrophic floods that swept through Central Texas in July.

At the same time, the administration has eliminated billions of dollars in FEMA grants intended to help communities better withstand disasters. The administration is also now requiring disaster survivors to provide email addresses when applying for FEMA aid, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times — a change that could prevent people with limited internet access from receiving vital assistance.

And the very future of the agency is unclear. In June, Mr. Trump said he wanted to eliminate FEMA after the end of hurricane season and move emergency management efforts “back to the state level.” After the Central Texas floods in July, when many Americans were focused on the rescue efforts, the administration’s rhetoric softened and officials spoke instead of reforming the agency.

Still, about 2,000 employees have left FEMA since Mr. Trump took office, accounting for about one-third of the agency’s permanent work force. Those who resigned included some of the agency’s most accomplished leaders. The situation has alarmed the FEMA employees who signed the letter, which lamented the loss of “experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management.”

Of the 182 FEMA employees who signed the letter, 36 attached their names, while the rest withheld their identities for fear of retaliation. The letter was sent to the leaders of several congressional committees and to the FEMA Review Council, which Mr. Trump created to provide recommendations on overhauling the agency.

A FEMA employee who helped organize the letter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said many workers declined to sign their names because they worried about being put on administrative leave. That was the fate of 144 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency after they signed a similar letter criticizing the administration.

A second FEMA employee who helped organize the letter, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said she wanted to sound the alarm before it is too late and the next hurricane has struck.

This year’s Atlantic hurricane season has been relatively quiet, with Hurricane Erin avoiding landfall in the United States last week. But forecasters say hurricane season could ramp up before it ends on Nov. 30, with storms supercharged by warmer ocean waters fueled by human-caused climate change.