The Trump administration has directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to plan for a 50 percent staffing cut, according to a court filing on February 3^rd by unions and public interest groups. The groups ask the court to block the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, from imposing the cuts.

The organizations said more than 10,000 FEMA positions could be eliminated in coming months.

The proposed deep cuts in the nation’s emergency response capabilities come as many EHS professionals in workplaces struggle with expanding emergency preparedness demands to address a broader range of risks that include extreme weather, facility and supply chain disruptions and cyber incidents.

FEMA had more than 20,000 employees and a budget of $33.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. The agency states that its workforce can swell to over 50,000 active members during major disasters. FEMA was created in 1979 and in 2003 became part of the Department of Homeland Security. 

“Gutting the staff responsible for disaster preparedness and response does not make the country safer; it leaves families, local governments, and first responders without the support they rely on when emergencies strike,” said a statement from Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is representing some of the plaintiffs.

“We are confident that our staffing decisions are consistent with the program’s design and mission,” a DHS spokesperson told The Hill.

The Trump administration has repeatedly said it wants to dismantle or reform FEMA. Visiting North Carolina in January, where Hurricane Helene slammed communities last September, the president casually noted: “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away,” and suggested states alone take on massive recovery work from disaster, according to The Hill.

Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order establishing the “Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council” to consider how to change the agency, according to a New York Times report. The council is co-chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The council’s recommendations have not been made public, though CNN obtained a copy of the report. Its recommendations include cutting FEMA’s staffing in half and implementing a new block grant system aimed at getting funds to communities more quickly, according to CNN.

It also reportedly calls for rebranding FEMA and changing its name, referring to it temporarily as “FEMA 2.0,” and raising the threshold under which states qualify for federal aid in the wake of a storm.

The recommendations do not propose eliminating FEMA, as Trump and Noem once vowed.

Controversy surrounding FEMA began last August, when more than 190 current and former FEMA officials signed a letter warning Congress that efforts to dismantle FEMA could risk American lives and threatening another failed federal disaster response on the scale of Hurricane Katrina.

Titled “Katrina Declaration,” the letter accused the administration of eroding the agency’s response capabilities and appointing unqualified leadership. The group called for FEMA to be shielded from political interference and for its workforce to be protected from politically motivated firings. In May 2025, 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, according to CNN.

FEMA has responded to more than 2,100 major disasters, emergencies, and fire management incidents since its inception. In recent years, the frequency has increased, with an average of 164 disasters declared annually between 2020 and 2024, according to the agency. 

Since 1980, the most common disasters are:

• Fires, such as the Palisades fire that occurred in Los Angeles in January 2025. Fires have accounted for 1,668 (38%) of all disaster declarations, the highest of any disaster type.
• Severe storms, which include a combination of disaster declarations, such as straight-line winds, tornadoes, flooding, wildfires, and others. There have been 1,092 severe storm declarations, accounting for 24.9% of disasters.
• Floods, such as the Texas flash flood in July 2025. There have been 507 flood declarations, accounting for 11.6% of disasters.
• Hurricanes, such as Hurricane Helene in September 2024. There have been 406 hurricane declarations, accounting for 9.3% of disasters.
• Snowstorms, as in New York in December 2022. There have been 149 snowstorm declarations, accounting for 3.4% of disasters.