US emergency agency plan requires nearly all staff to be deployed, draft memo shows [View all]
Source: Reuters
April 24, 2025 7:05 PM EDT Updated 11 hours ago
WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. agency that manages disasters plans to require nearly all employees, including full-time headquarters and regional staff, to be deployed to emergency zones, according to a draft memo to agency employees seen by Reuters. This spring, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will assign all full-time employees roles in leading, managing and supporting disaster response and recovery, according to the draft memo dated "April xx, 2025," from acting head Cam Hamilton to all employees.
"This memo redefines the emergency management categories, outlining how every employee within FEMA has a role in emergency management," the memo says. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has said it will move FEMA's disaster preparedness work to state and local governments. He has floated shuttering the agency altogether.
Experts have warned that shrinking or reorganizing FEMA could leave local and state governments more vulnerable to natural disasters, such as this year's wildfires in California and severe flooding in West Virginia. The notion that FEMA office staff could be called on to support disaster response is not new, but mandatory deployment minimums will likely create anxiety for them, said Michael Coen, former FEMA chief of staff under the Obama and Biden administrations.
FEMA staff are already under pressure after about 2,000 employees accepted incentives to leave or were terminated since the start of the Trump administration, Coen said. "It's just one more lever being pulled that's making it unpleasant to work there," Coen said. FEMA did not respond to a request for comment.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-emergency-agency-plan-requires-nearly-all-staff-be-deployed-draft-memo-shows-2025-04-24/
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