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GAO report found FEMA and DHS cut FEMA's workforce 17% without assessing disaster-response readiness impact

On August 4, 2026, the Government Accountability Office reported that FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security cut roughly 17% of FEMA's workforce -- more than 4,300 employees -- in fiscal year 2025 without assessing how the reductions would affect the agency's ability to respond to disasters. GAO found neither agency conducted a workforce-needs analysis before pushing voluntary-separation programs or declining to renew contracts for hundreds of CORE employees, and that FEMA had operated without a strategic plan since rescinding its prior one in May 2025. DHS concurred with GAO's recommendations for a new plan and workforce analysis but said implementation depends on a permanent, Senate-confirmed FEMA administrator.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On August 4, 2026, the Government Accountability Office reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency lost roughly 17% of its workforce -- more than 4,300 employees -- in fiscal year 2025, and that neither FEMA nor the Department of Homeland Security assessed whether the cuts would impair the agency's ability to respond to disasters before implementing them.

Most of the departures came through Trump administration voluntary-separation incentives, including the deferred resignation program, plus the firing of employees still in probationary status. FEMA also declined in January 2026 to renew the contracts of hundreds of Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees, the largest component of its workforce, before officials in May -- after DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin replaced Kristi Noem -- offered the affected staff their positions back. GAO found FEMA had operated without a strategic plan since rescinding its prior one in May 2025, and under a hiring freeze from January 2025 through May 2026, with no workforce-needs analysis behind any of the reductions.

GAO warned FEMA risks "critically low" staffing levels heading into the 2026 hurricane season and recommended the agency adopt a new strategic plan and conduct a formal workforce analysis. DHS concurred with the recommendations but said full implementation depends on the confirmation of a permanent, Senate-confirmed FEMA administrator.

Why we recorded this

Congress created FEMA and expects the executive branch to staff it adequately to carry out the disaster-response mission Congress established, not to hollow it out unilaterally. A government watchdog found FEMA and DHS cut roughly 17% of FEMA's workforce through voluntary-separation programs and contract non-renewals without ever assessing whether the cuts would impair the agency's ability to respond to disasters, and did so after rescinding FEMA's strategic plan with no replacement. This archive records when an administration disables a congressionally-established emergency-response function without going through Congress, leaving disaster-response readiness diminished heading into hurricane season.

Sources

  1. FEMA slashed staff without considering the effects on future disaster response, watchdog reports — Government Executive investigative accessed August 5, 2026
  2. GAO: FEMA staffing cuts lacked strategy, hit regional staff hardest — Federal News Network investigative accessed August 5, 2026

See also