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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is at risk of having “critically low” staffing levels if there’s a major disaster, according to a nonpartisan congressional watchdog.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report issued Tuesday that in Fiscal Year 2025, more than 4,300 staffers departed from FEMA, more than double the departure rate in Fiscal Year 2024.
It found that an additional 2,500 staffers have left this fiscal year as of May.
The GAO said that the departures were due to voluntary workforce reduction programs, the firing of probationary employees and nonrenewal of contracts for staffers who are part of a temporary workforce that supports disaster response and recovery.
It said the staffing loss has also led to a loss of institutional knowledge and experienced people.
It also warned that without a shift, the disaster agency may find itself short-handed in the event of an emergency.
“If FEMA continues to wait for potential mission changes, which require legislative action or other agency actions, it risks having critically low staffing levels in the event of large or concurrent disasters in the 2026 hurricane season, such as those seen during the 2024 hurricane season,” it said.
At least some of the agency’s lack of preparedness, per GAO, comes from the delays in the release of the Trump administration’s FEMA review council report, which outlined agency policy.
“Although the FEMA Review Council was delayed in issuing its report, FEMA was waiting on the FEMA Review Council recommendations before determining how it would assess current and future staffing needs. As such, FEMA did not continue to conduct workforce planning for future incidents, such as the 2026 hurricane season, according to FEMA officials in headquarters and all 10 regions,” the report said.
And the report said that the disaster management agency has been operating without a strategic plan since its last one was rescinded in 2025, a delay that’s also connected to the review council.
“When we met with FEMA officials in April 2026, they told us that they have not issued a revised strategic plan because they were waiting for DHS and FEMA Review Council guidance related to potential agency changes,” the GAO report said. “Delaying strategic planning to wait for guidance from DHS and the FEMA Review Council leaves FEMA at risk of being unprepared and under-resourced to effectively respond to future disasters.”
It also noted that this year, the agency expects to have 240 employees available for surge support during the 2026 hurricane season, down from 600 in 2025.
The Hill has reached out to FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees it, for comment.
The agency has faced a tumultuous year and a half in the Trump administration, with President Trump and then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem saying they wanted to at first eliminate then later impose significant reforms at the agency.
While it did not make the final draft, which came out after Markwayne Mullin took the reins at DHS, the review council under Noem had considered cutting FEMA’s staffing in half.
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