CNN
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The Department of Homeland Security is inserting more than a half-dozen of its officials into key front office roles at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to effectively run the agency, according to multiple sources and an internal memo obtained by CNN.
The major shakeup comes less than two weeks before the official start of hurricane season. The homeland security officials will replace several longtime FEMA leaders, marking an inflection point in the Trump administration’s takeover of the disaster relief agency.
In a memo issued Wednesday, FEMA leadership formally announced the sweeping reorganization amid confusion, turmoil and a shrinking workforce at the agency under the administration, which has vowed to “eliminate” FEMA altogether.
The new officials will serve in critical advisory positions under new acting FEMA administrator David Richardson, a DHS official himself. They appear to have limited experience managing natural disasters, according to bios included in Wednesday’s announcement. Like Richardson, most of them have been serving in the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office at DHS, and some will split their time with their other roles at Homeland Security.
Only two of Richardson’s seven advisors currently hold positions at FEMA, and neither have served in such a senior role, multiple sources tell CNN. No one in the reorganized front office held their new positions before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Front office roles often turnover with a new president, but sources say it’s unusual to see such a dramatic shakeup, especially right before hurricane season, removing seasoned FEMA leadership and replacing them with far less experienced personnel.
“The key takeaway is that the front office operation for the nation’s disaster management agency has zero people with actual disaster response and recovery experience 10 days out from hurricane season,” a FEMA official told CNN. “That’s scary.”
There are growing concerns inside FEMA that the agency is unprepared to handle catastrophic disasters in the months ahead. An internal assessment obtained by CNN last week acknowledged that the agency “is not ready” for hurricane season.
The announcement Wednesday included a list of 16 senior executives who are departing the agency, including experienced top leadership in the offices of Response and Recovery, Mission Support, Procurement, Resilience, Grants, and Professional Responsibility, along with the agency’s second in command, MaryAnn Tierney. Many of them accepted DOGE voluntary buyouts amid the plummeting morale at the agency.
“FEMA is not a job, it’s a calling,” Tierney, who resigned from her position, told CNN in a statement. “It was a privilege to serve alongside a team of people who dedicate themselves to helping their fellow Americans on their worst day.”
Another longtime FEMA leader will fill Tierney’s position in the interim as the agency grooms a homeland security official to take over.
Roughly 10% of FEMA’s staff have left since January, and the agency is projected to lose close to 30% of its workforce by the end of the year, according to a FEMA official briefed on the numbers. During a call last week, Richardson told the agency that more steep staffing cuts are expected in the months ahead.
“I think there’s a real question as to what the objective of the administration is. Is it to actually make sure that they have the most competent voices ready to shepherd the agency through a period of turmoil everyone knows is coming? It sure doesn’t seem that way,” a second FEMA official told CNN. “It really looks like they’re focusing on the ‘FEMA is part of DHS and don’t forget that’ part of the message.”
A FEMA spokesperson told CNN Thursday the agency is pivoting to empower the states.
“Under Secretary Noem and Acting Administrator Richardson, FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,” a FEMA spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades. Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, and the efforts of Acting Administrator Richardson FEMA is fully activated in preparation for Hurricane Season.”
With Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the helm, DHS has exerted extraordinary control over FEMA since Trump took office.
She fired Trump’s first acting FEMA administrator, Cameron Hamilton, this month after he broke from other administration officials when he told lawmakers he does not believe eliminating FEMA is in the best interest of the American people.
Richardson – a former Marine combat veteran and martial-arts instructor – has promised to enforce President Trump’s agenda. In an all-hands meeting on his first day at FEMA, Richardson told agency staff he will “run right over” anyone who tries to prevent him from carrying out the president’s mission.
“FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and don’t forget that,” Richardson told staff. “I, and I alone, speak for FEMA. I am the president’s representative at FEMA, and I am here to carry out President Trump’s intent.”
In a memo issued Wednesday that was obtained by CNN, Richardson officially rescinded FEMA’s 2022-2026 strategic plan, saying it “contains goals and objectives that bear no connection to FEMA accomplishing its mission.” The memo states a new 2026-2030 strategy will be developed this summer, though it does not mention a plan for the months ahead.
When Richardson took the helm less than two weeks ago, he announced an agency-wide “complex problem-solving session” to assess how prepared FEMA is to handle natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes in the months ahead. He has insisted the agency will be ready.
“We’re already putting together teams that are going down range to do some evaluation on what readiness has been done at the state level,” Richardson told a conservative radio station last week. “So, we will be ready, we will meet the president’s intent, and we will make sure that the American people are safe. We may do it a little differently. We will be criticized for it. But we will do it very, very effectively.”
President Trump has created a FEMA review council, which met for the first time Tuesday and is expected to submit recommendations to further reform the agency. During the meeting, Noem reiterated the goal of dismantling and even renaming FEMA.
“I don’t want you to go into this thinking that we’re going to make a little tweak here, a little delegation of authority over here, that we’re going to maybe cut a few dollars somewhere. No, FEMA should no longer exist as it is. (President Trump) wants this to be a new agency,” Noem told the council. “Our goal is that states should manage their emergencies, and we come in and support them, and we’re there in a time of financial crisis.”
