Senator Reverend Warnock pressed for answers from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on major cuts to FEMA. Internal agency reviews reveal that the agency is dangerously unprepared for hurricane season 

Senator Reverend Warnock: “Hurricane season is already upon us, and the fact of the matter is, FEMA is not ready. I am demanding answers on this because reckless cuts and political games shouldn’t come before the safety of Georgians”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) demanded answers from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on FEMA’s ability to respond to hurricanes in Georgia and across the country this storm season.

Major cuts to the agency have caused critical staffing shortfalls while leaked internal assessments show that FEMA is unprepared for the hurricane season that began on June 1. The inquiry also follows the reported admission by Acting Administrator David Richardson that he was unaware the United States has a hurricane season.

Senator Warnock asked Secretary Noem to commit to ensuring that FEMA’s Region IV office in Atlanta, which oversees disaster response for all of Georgia and much of the southeast, remains fully staffed and resourced for the 2025 hurricane season.

“This administration must take immediate action to reverse their reckless cuts to FEMA. This is about our safety and it’s about ensuring that our government is fulfilling its most basic functions,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “The people of Georgia deserve answers on this and I intend to get them.”

This is Senator Warnock’s latest effort to ensure that FEMA has the resources needed to protect Georgians from natural disasters and assist with recovery. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Senator Warnock led a bipartisan, bicameral effort to secure billions of dollars in federal funding for disaster recovery efforts in Georgia. The Senator also introduced bipartisan legislation to extend the tax deadline for Georgians impacted by Hurricane Helene and other natural disasters. Senator Warnock also joined a bipartisan effort to demand that the Trump Administration reinstate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which supports local disaster mitigation projects including a $30 million award to Savannah for flood reduction measures that was canceled earlier this year.

Full text of the letter can be found HERE and below:

Dear Secretary Noem,

As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season begins this week, and following Acting Administrator Richardson’s stunning and disturbing reported admission that he was unaware the United States has a hurricane season, I write with deep concern about the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the potentially devastating consequences for Georgia communities.

Nearly a year ago, in September 2024, Georgia and the entire southeast were bombarded by Hurricane Helene – a multi-state major disaster and the deadliest storm to strike the mainland United States in 20 years. At its peak, Hurricane Helene left more than 1 million Georgians without power, demanded 300 boil water advisories across the state, damaged over 200,000 homes, and left thousands of families displaced.

Fortunately, thanks to an early presence in Georgia and a “great” working relationship with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and state leadership, FEMA was prepared to quickly mobilize assistance teams, deliver meals and water to the hardest-hit areas, and coordinate response and recovery efforts with state, local, and nonprofit leaders. Most importantly, FEMA remained in Georgia long after the national cameras left, helping Georgians along their road to recovery and hosting resource fairs for impacted communities on everything from applications for individual assistance to small business loans to housing needs. To date, FEMA has provided over $360 million to survivors and more than $400 million to local governments and communities in Georgia. Though not perfect, this effort required a level of coordination across state lines, rapid mobilization of personnel and supplies, and deep experience that only the federal government and FEMA can provide.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season will likely be “above normal” and feature up to ten hurricanes, including five major storms that will threaten Georgia and much of the southeast. However, instead of working with state and local governments, nonprofits, and federal partners to prepare for the 2025 hurricane season, the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have haphazardly and irresponsibly worked to dismantle the nation’s lead disaster response agency without any workable alternative or sense of direction.

These reckless actions include:

• Proposing a $646 million budget cut to FEMA in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, along with the cancellation of billions in disaster relief and mitigation grants that help states prepare for future disasters;
• Gutting FEMA’s workforce by nearly 30 percent, including more than 1,800 voluntary buyouts, 200 terminations, a hiring freeze, the departure of 16 senior officials, as well as the abject firing of FEMA’s administrator who warned against eliminating the agency;
• Pursuing ill-conceived, shortsighted, and abrupt changes to longstanding FEMA policy, including quadrupling the damage threshold for Georgia communities to receive federal assistance from roughly $21 million to more than $84 million;
• Canceling hurricane readiness trainings for state and local emergency managers in Georgia and across the country; and,
• Eliminating the disaster resiliency-focused Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, including a $30 million award to reduce flooding in Savannah, Georgia.

I am always open to considering thoughtful, transparent reforms developed in close partnership with Congress, states, and local officials, but these unilateral actions are gambling with the lives and livelihoods of millions of Georgians. As DHS’s own internal agency review states, “FEMA is not ready” for the upcoming hurricane season – a frightening assessment that I fear will soon have severe consequences in Georgia and southeastern coastal states.

To that end, I request answers to the following questions by June 26, 2025, so that Georgians may better understand how your actions will affect their safety during the 2025 hurricane season:

1. How would a budget cut of $646 million, as proposed in your FY26 budget request, help FEMA better prepare for and respond to future disasters in Georgia?
   1. What analyses did DHS conduct to ensure that these budget cuts will not diminish the safety of Americans during hurricane season?
2. Please provide any policy justification or budget analysis supporting the cancellation of hurricane readiness trainings for state and local officials, including how such cancellations better prepare local communities for hurricane season.^[1] In the absence of such trainings, how does DHS intend to ensure that local officials are prepared for hurricane season?
3. Of the FEMA employees who were terminated or accepted voluntary buyouts, how many performed a hurricane preparedness, logistic, or safety function, including those who collaborated with state and local governments before, during, and after a disaster?
4. What analyses, if any, has DHS conducted to assess the impact of implemented and proposed workforce reductions on FEMA’s ability to perform its emergency management functions? Please provide copies of any written communications, analyses, and other documentation concerning how workforce reductions will limit FEMA’s ability to carry out its core functions.
5. How many counties in Georgia that received federal assistance in the aftermath of previous disasters would have been denied that assistance if FEMA’s proposal to quadruple the damage threshold had been implemented prior to those disasters? Please provide a list of affected disasters and Georgia counties, including how much federal disaster assistance would have been lost by each county under FEMA’s new proposed threshold.
   1. What public process or consultation, if any, did FEMA conduct before proposing an increase to the per capita impact indicator threshold?
6. Please provide a cost-benefit analysis supporting the cancellation of the BRIC program and awarded projects like Savannah, Georgia’s flood reduction measures, including how such cancellations make communities like Savannah more resilient and safer in the event of a severe storm.
7. What contingency plans are in place if FEMA staff and resources are overwhelmed during the 2025 hurricane season?
8. Are there plans to further adjust or reduce staffing at FEMA’s Region IV office in Atlanta, Georgia, which oversees disaster response for all of Georgia and much of the southeast?
   1. Will you commit to ensuring this office remains fully staffed and resourced for the duration of the 2025 hurricane season?