THE FEMA KATRINA DECLARATION

KATRINA DECLARATION AND PETITION TO CONGRESS

TO: Members of Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council

CC: U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security; U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; U.S. House Committee on Appropriations; U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations; Members of Congress

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane, claiming an estimated 1,833 lives, leaving millions homeless, and causing approximately $161 billion in damage. Hurricane Katrina was not just a natural disaster, but a man-made one: the inexperience of senior leaders and the profound failure by the federal government to deliver timely, unified, and effective aid to those in need left survivors to fend for themselves for days, and highlighted how Black, Indigenous, and low-income communities are disproportionally affected by disasters. These failures prompted Congress to pass the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (PKEMRA), which introduced safeguards to ensure such shortcomings of disaster preparation and response would not be repeated. However, two decades later, FEMA is enacting processes and leadership structures that echo the conditions PKEMRA was designed to prevent.

Since January 2025, FEMA has been under the leadership of individuals lacking legal qualifications, Senate approval, and the demonstrated background required of a FEMA Administrator. Decisions made by FEMA’s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator (SOPDA) David Richardson, Former SOPDA Cameron Hamilton, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem erode the capacity of FEMA and our State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) partners, hinder the swift execution of our mission, and dismiss experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management.

The agency’s current trajectory reflects a clear departure from the intent of PKEMRA. Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration. We the undersigned — current and former FEMA workers — have come together to sound the alarm to our administrators, the US Congress, and the American people so that we can continue to lawfully uphold our individual oaths of office and serve our country as our mission dictates.

The following are our Six Statements of Opposition from FEMA’s workforce and our Petition to Congress, which we hope come in time to prevent not only another national catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, but the effective dissolution of FEMA itself and the abandonment of the American people such an event would represent:

1) We oppose the reduction in capability of FEMA to perform its missions.

Secretary Noem has impounded agency funds by requiring a personal review and approval of all contracts, grants and mission assignments over $100,000 which reduces FEMA’s authorities and capabilities to swiftly deliver our mission. Consequences of this manual review became tragically clear during the July 2025 floods in Kerrville, Texas, when mission assignments were delayed up to 72 hours; FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Branch Chief resigned, citing these delays as cause.

PKEMRA §506 (6 USC §316) states: “the Agency shall be maintained as a distinct entity within the Department” and the “Secretary may not substantially or significantly reduce the authorities, responsibilities, or functions of the Agency or the capability of the Agency to perform those missions, authorities, responsibilities.” Noem's review of contracts is superfluous, given that FEMA is already required to develop "pre-scripted mission assignments", per PKEMRA §653 (6 USC §753), in conjunction with federal partners that also have legal responsibilities to ensure rapid federal disaster response.

Additionally, PKEMRA §506 (6 USC §316) states that transfers of assets are prohibited, “except for details or assignments that do not reduce the capability of the Agency to perform its missions." Despite this prohibition FEMA employees have been detailed and reassigned to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when the agency is already operating at reduced capacity due to staff losses through deferred resignation and voluntary retirement. Any who refuse the transfer to ICE are threatened with termination.

2) We oppose the ongoing failure to appoint a qualified FEMA administrator, as required by law.

Since January 2025, there have now been two individuals placed in charge of FEMA who lack proper qualifications and the authority to lead this agency. Hurricane season has begun, yet FEMA continues to lack an appointed Administrator with the mandated qualifications to fulfill this role.

The dangers of unqualified leadership were a significant lesson learned from Hurricane Katrina. PKEMRA §503 (6 USC §313) requires that: “The Administrator shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Administrator shall be appointed from among individuals who have a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management and homeland security; and not less than 5 years of executive leadership and management experience in the public or private sector.”

3) We oppose the elimination of life- and cost-saving risk reduction programs.

Mitigation reduces the costs of future disasters, saves lives, protects critical infrastructure, and reduces future response and recovery needs. As disasters grow more frequent and costly, removing mitigation initiatives is fiscally irresponsible and puts American lives and property at unnecessary risk. On average, mitigation grants save $6 for every $1 invested and are among the most effective tools to limit future destruction and bolster our national resilience.

The Stafford Act §203 (42 USC §5133) authorizes pre-disaster mitigation and §404 (42 USC §5170c) a post-disaster hazard mitigation grant program (HMGP) for “cost-effective measures to reduce injuries, loss of life, and property damage and to increase resilience of individuals and communities to future damage from disasters.” Yet, the Agency terminated the pre-disaster mitigation program, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), without public notice, terminating current awards already appropriated by Congress. Furthermore, this administration has not authorized funds through the HMGP for almost all Presidentially Declared Major Disasters since February 2025. If allowed to continue our State, Local, Tribal & Territorial (SLTT) partners will have future increased response and recovery costs, and increased loss of life. These actions undermine FEMA’s legal authority and responsibility.

4) We oppose interference with preparedness programs that build capacity for our SLTT partners.

The federal response failures during Hurricane Katrina highlighted that SLTT partners cannot succeed without federal support through sustained training, technical assistance and coordinated planning efforts. Cuts to these programs prioritize the appearance of cost reduction and empowerment of SLTT partners but will result in an opposite outcome. When we cannot work directly with our SLTT partners in providing training and technical assistance, we lose critical opportunities to maintain trust, strengthen systems, improve preparedness, and serve the American communities we swore an oath to protect at the moments of their most dire need.

PKEMRA §503 (6 USC §313) states “the Administrator shall provide funding, training, exercises, technical assistance, planning, and other assistance to build tribal, local, State, regional, and national capabilities (including communications capabilities), necessary to respond to a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster." Interference with community preparedness programs, while presented as a cost-cutting measure, is weakening the ability of our SLTT partners to respond to disasters. For example,

● The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program has educated and mobilized volunteers, including teenagers and adults, for local disaster readiness and response for almost four decades. The HQ portion of the program has been eliminated without notice to stakeholders.

● The National Fire Academy, which provides education and training opportunities for local and state firefighters and non-federal responders, was paused for an extended period this spring, cutting off access to critical training.

● Until it was cancelled without notice, the Youth Preparedness Council (YPC) brought together young leaders interested in supporting disaster preparedness and making a difference in their communities. Through the YPC, FEMA demonstrated commitment to involving America’s youth in preparedness-related activities by engaging with young people and soliciting their perspectives, feedback, and opinions.

5) We oppose the censorship of climate science, environmental protection, and efforts to ensure all communities have access to information, resources, and support.

Decades of empirical evidence shows the effects of climate change on disasters and how disasters exacerbate existing inequities, especially in Black, Brown, Indigenous, rural, and low-income communities. This administration’s decision to ignore and disregard the facts pertaining to climate science in disasters shows a blatant disregard for the safety and security of our Nation's people and all American communities regardless of their geographic, economic or ethnic diversity.

Beginning in February 2025, FEMA employees were tasked with removing climate change related information from both public-facing and internal documents. The Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act of 2022 requires the President to maintain a program that shows where natural disasters are most likely to strike and which communities are most socially vulnerable — like those with fewer resources to prepare or recover. That information must be shared publicly so people can see the risks in their own neighborhoods. In February of 2025, the Future Risk Index was removed from FEMA’s website, significantly decreasing the nation’s ability to properly prepare for and mitigate against the risks of tomorrow and support underserved communities. This action represents increased risk for communities and an incalculable waste of time, information, and taxpayer dollars.

6) We oppose the reduction of FEMA’s disaster workforce.

FEMA’s current capacities have been significantly limited due to a loss of personnel through programs designed to incentivize our workforce to leave federal service, ongoing hiring freezes, and the cancellation of critical support contracts. One-third of FEMA’s full-time staff have departed the agency this year, leading to the loss of irreplaceable institutional knowledge and long-built relationships.

Multiple federal partner agencies play a role in disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. The diminished response and recovery capacities of partner agencies due to this administration has cascading effects that reduce FEMA’s ability to carry out its mission.

We find ourselves — on the 20th anniversary of a disaster that reshaped the nature of emergency management — only two months removed from a mass casualty flooding event in Kerrville, Texas, which proved the inefficiencies, ineffectiveness, and dangers of the processes and decisions put forth by the current administration. As that disaster unfolded, FEMA’s mission to provide critical support was obstructed by leadership who not only question the agency’s existence but place uninformed cost-cutting above serving the American people and the communities our oath compels us to serve.

Our Petition for Action to the United States Congress

As provided under the Lloyd-La Follette Act (5 USC §7211), the signatories respectfully petition Congress to:

1. Establish FEMA as a cabinet-level independent agency in the executive branch.

2. Defend the agency from further interference from DHS, including illegal impoundments of appropriated funding; ensuring FEMA retains its full authority, responsibilities, functions, and capabilities to perform its missions.

3. Protect FEMA employees from politically motivated firings and ensure continued protection under merit-based personnel systems.

4. Demand transparency from OMB, DOGE, and FEMA leadership regarding internal employment policies and future agency reductions.

Who We Are

The signatories of this letter are FEMA employees from across the United States who are dedicated to helping people before, during, and after disasters, and who are members of the communities we seek to support. In addition to named signatories, we include anonymous signatories who share our concerns but choose not to identify themselves due to the culture of fear and suppression cultivated by this administration.

We stand in solidarity with our colleagues and public servants at the NIH, EPA, NASA, NSF and CDC who have released similar declarations concerning the administration's actions at their respective agencies. We dedicate this Katrina Declaration and Petition to 1) every life lost from disasters, 2) to the survivors who endured and rebuilt, 3) to every first responder and public servant who places service above self, and 4) to all the federal partners who serve alongside us to deliver our mission. Their sacrifices and courage strengthen our commitment to speak the truth, sound the alarm, and defend our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters.