WASHINGTON >> More than a dozen of the senior leaders at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including those with the most experience in leading disaster recovery, have either been fired or have resigned, thinning its management ranks weeks before hurricane season.

The departures in the senior ranks are in addition to job cuts and resignations of about 1,000 of the agency’s roughly 17,000 employees.

Those changes represent a significant loss at an agency that was already struggling with personnel shortages as it tried to help communities recover from catastrophic storms and wildfires in western North Carolina and Los Angeles, among other missions.

Soon after his return to the White House, President Donald Trump mused about formally disbanding FEMA. The departures suggest that the agency is already being thinned out.

“The massive reduction in staff at FEMA will have dangerous ripple effects for communities across the country,” said Shana Udvardy, senior climate resilience policy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “At a time when FEMA staff is low capacity, this is going in the wrong direction.”

Under the Trump administration’s so-called deferred-resignation offer, more than 800 FEMA employees are leaving, according to several people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. They include the agency’s top lawyer and his deputy, as well as senior officials in charge of human resources, information technology and reducing the risk communities face from future disasters.

The agency’s leadership plans to hold a “clap out” on Friday for the employees who are leaving, according to a document viewed by The New York Times. FEMA staff members are encouraged to gather in the lobby of the Washington headquarters Friday afternoon and applaud as their colleagues leave the building.

The administration fired FEMA’s chief financial officer, as well as a senior official responsible for the federal flood insurance program, along with more than 200 probationary employees.

In addition, the administration has indicated it will eliminate the jobs of an unknown number of other FEMA employees who work on issues related to climate change or equity.

FEMA’s press office referred a request for comment to the Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment.

Before Trump’s return, the agency was already struggling to fill its positions. In 2023, the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that FEMA had managed to staff two-thirds of its allotted positions. That gap partly reflected the toll posed by FEMA’s need to respond to a growing number of disasters made worse by climate change.

In his first week back in office, Trump said states should manage disasters on their own and established a council led by the secretaries of defense and homeland security to consider FEMA’s future. “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away,” Trump said. It is unclear whether that council has met.

Among the top managers who are departing is Adrian Sevier, who has worked as FEMA’s chief counsel for 10 years and as deputy chief counsel for eight years before that. On Tuesday, Sevier wrote on LinkedIn that he was leaving and thanked the people who worked for him. “You have all supported and defended the Constitution,” he wrote, “and well and faithfully discharged your duties.”

Sevier’s deputy, Michael Cameron, is also leaving, according to three people familiar with his decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of a fear of retaliation.

Neither Sevier nor Cameron could be reached for comment.

The role of top lawyer at FEMA carries particular importance at an agency where a fast response is required and often hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency assistance are involved. FEMA’s top lawyers guide the staff in quickly and appropriately spending money in ways that avoid fraud, waste and abuse.

In addition to those executives, FEMA is losing at least seven staff members responsible for managing disaster recovery operations, according to people inside the agency. Those workers, called “federal coordinating officers,” are extremely valuable and in short supply: As of Thursday morning, 54 of those officers were already deployed, leaving just three available to be sent to manage any new disasters that might happen.

Other departing senior managers include FEMA’s acting chief human capital officer, the deputy chief human capital officer for operations, and the deputy assistant administrator for mitigation, who oversees programs designed to reduce communities’ exposure to disasters. Two of FEMA’s deputy chief information officers, who are responsible for information technology, including computers, software and cybersecurity, are also departing.

Two weeks ago, the agency fired its chief financial officer, Mary Comans, after Elon Musk claimed misleadingly that FEMA had spent money to shelter migrants in “high-end hotels” in New York City. Comans had overseen payments allocated by Congress for emergency housing, which was part of her job.

A week later, Christopher Page, who worked on the National Flood Insurance Program, was fired from his job. Page wrote on LinkedIn that he had worked at FEMA since 2010 but had recently been promoted; his new role meant he was technically on probation and therefore easier to terminate.

The flood insurance program insures millions of homes around the United States that otherwise cannot get coverage. That insurance is what allows the real estate market to function in those areas: Without insurance, banks won’t issue mortgages; without a mortgage, most people can’t afford to buy a house. Page’s job was to look for ways to improve the program.

“I wanted to be there for disaster survivors on their worst day,” Page wrote.

———

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2025 The New York Times Company