In a move that may undermine the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) just as hurricane season approaches, the Trump administration has dismissed over 200 probationary employees from the federal disaster relief agency.
According to an email titled “Hiring Update,” acquired by CBS News, FEMA notified staff on Friday evening about a new recruitment process that reconfigures contract extensions for a significant portion of the agency’s workforce, mandating that all employees submit extension requests to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for approval.
This decision has left thousands of affected employees in confusion, raising concerns that the new process will effectively reduce FEMA’s workforce over the next two to four years by requiring employees to reapply for their roles through DHS oversight.
Motivated by President Trump’s executive order last month directing the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”) to execute substantial cuts in the federal workforce, the policy impacts the agency’s Cadre of On-Call Response, or “CORE,” along with FEMA’s reservists.
The email indicated that “most FEMA positions will be affected, as two-year and four-year COREs and reservists constitute a large portion of the workforce.”
FEMA’s acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton briefed his leadership team about this decision last week, according to several sources within the agency. Regional directors subsequently communicated the news during all-hands meetings on Thursday and Friday, leaving many staff members distressed and perplexed.
“Employees have started to leave and look for other jobs,” a current FEMA employee shared with CBS News. “They’ve recognized the situation is dire.”
According to a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), FEMA’s CORE employees, numbering over 8,800, represent approximately 39% of the agency’s workforce and are responsible for providing disaster assistance before and after hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and other federally declared emergencies. Notably, these first responders are uniquely funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, enabling them to operate even amid government shutdowns.
CORE employees work at recovery centers, register survivors for assistance, and conduct door-to-door outreach in communities ravaged by severe weather events. The agency’s approximately 7,800 reservists form a temporary, on-call workforce that also responds to disasters, emergencies, and essential training nationwide.
The communication instructed employees with contract termination dates past March 17 to submit requests for “renewals and extensions” to the Department of Homeland Security “for decision.”
The hiring announcement excludes specific positions within The National Flood Insurance Program and roles such as Emergency Management Specialist, Human Resources Specialist, Contracting Specialist, Information Technology Specialist, and attorneys, as stated in the FEMA workforce email sent on Friday.
Additionally, the email advised that all external hiring and onboarding of new staff is suspended until further notice, with the exception of political appointees.
A DHS spokesperson stated to CBS News on Saturday that this decision aims to “eliminate wasteful spending and reduce bureaucracy that hinders relief efforts.”
“FEMA has implemented a complete hiring freeze and established a DHS review procedure for all disaster-field roles that are due for renewal. This review applies to the majority of FEMA’s workforce,” the spokesperson remarked. “President Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem believe that disaster recovery should primarily be led by state and local officials rather than federal bureaucrats.”
On Wednesday, President Trump signed an executive order encouraging state and local governments to take a “more active and significant role” in emergency preparedness across the nation.
“What I say is, you don’t need FEMA; you need a competent state government,” President Trump remarked while visiting Los Angeles communities after the catastrophic wildfires in January. “FEMA is, in my view, a very costly and predominantly ineffective organization.”
For months, the president has considered the possibility of abolishing the agency. Established during the Carter administration, FEMA was later reorganized under DHS following the post-9/11 formation of the department.
Policy proposals under Project 2025 include a suggestion to “reform FEMA’s emergency spending to shift the majority of preparedness and response costs to states and localities instead of the federal government.”
“If states aren’t prepared, they better get prepared,” a current FEMA employee commented to CBS News. “It takes FEMA four months to refresh and restock all of our supplies sent out for hurricane season. I can’t believe the states are sufficiently prepared or robust enough to handle this mission alone.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has stated that while the federal government should play a role in disaster relief, she aligns with the president’s intention to “restructure FEMA as it currently exists.”
This change in the hiring process for the agency’s disaster relief personnel occurs mere months before the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which spans from June 1 to November 30.
In a December interview, former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told CBS News that the agency encounters a federally declared disaster approximately every other day, with nearly 180 emergencies declared in the initial 11 months of 2024—representing about a 50% increase compared to 2023. The former administrator described the consecutive demands on the agency as “the new normal.”
CBS News has reached out to FEMA for comments regarding the new directive.
