Washington Post: “FEMA officials were stunned and pointed out that getting rid of nearly half of the nation’s disaster workforce would greatly harm communities in various stages of disaster recovery.”

New reporting from the Washington Post is highlighting “potential reductions to thousands of disaster response and recovery roles,” which would “greatly harm communities in various stages of disaster recovery.” The cuts include at least one staffer working on Hurricane Helene recovery. 

As “recovery czar” Michael Whatley’s failures mount – from the FEMA Review Council’s final report being months overdue, to only 11 percent of Western North Carolina’s needs being met in federal support – North Carolinians deserve to know: 

1. Did Michael Whatley know these FEMA staffing cuts were coming?
2. Was Whatley involved in the decision-making, or does he support the cuts? 
3. Why hasn’t Whatley “pick[ed] up the phone” to call Kristi Noem and get Western North Carolina the federal aid they are still waiting on?

Read more:

Washington Post: Emails outline potential cuts affecting thousands of FEMA disaster responders

Brianna Sacks | January 5, 2025

• The Department of Homeland Security drafted plans to drastically cut the Federal Emergency Management Agency workforce in 2026, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post that detail potential reductions to thousands of disaster response and recovery roles.

• They said cuts began on New Year’s Eve with the elimination of about 65 positions that were part of FEMA’s largest workforce, known as the Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE) — staffers who are among the first on the ground after a disaster and often stick around for years to help communities recover.

• While FEMA does need reforms, losing a large number of disaster-specific workers over a short period of time “would mean greater delays in processing, and survivors not being dealt with as quickly as they had been before,” said Cameron Hamilton, who led FEMA as acting administrator in the early months of Trump’s second term.

• CORE teams partner directly with state and local officials to support ongoing response and recovery after a hurricane strikes or a fire tears through a town.

• As documents detailing workforce cuts made rounds within the agency over the past week, FEMA officials were stunned and pointed out that getting rid of nearly half of the nation’s disaster workforce would greatly harm communities in various stages of disaster recovery. 

• Another supervisor overseeing recovery work for Hurricane Helene expressed concern and confusion over losing a staffer, stating in a New Year’s Eve note to human resources that “based on the attached emails and form,” the worker’s “appointment should be renewed.”

• “I would like to resolve this ASAP, as this is a disappointing and confusing email to get right before a holiday,” the supervisor said. In response, a top human resources official said the situation was essentially out of their hands.

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