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Assigning FEMA staff to immigration enforcement hurt disaster work, House report says
The report says FEMA lost about 30% of its workforce since January 2025 as staff were reassigned to immigration enforcement duties.
- A House subcommittee report released today accused the Donald Trump administration of diverting Federal Emergency Management Agency resources to support immigration enforcement, weakening the agency's disaster-response capacity.
- Since January 2025, FEMA lost roughly 5,000 employees—about 30% of its workforce—due to budget cuts and reassignments to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations.
- Reassignments and leadership turnover led to administrative delays and expiring contracts, which the report links to operational failures during last year's deadly flooding in Texas, as officials testified immigration duties consumed essential human resources.
- Stanton issued eight recommendations, including immediately recalling staff assigned to ICE and CBP and requiring those agencies to reimburse FEMA for diverted costs, arguing disaster professionals served as the "operational backbone" of mass deportation efforts.
- FEMA continues aligning programs with national security priorities, recently announcing it would withhold 20% of Homeland Security Grant Program funding from jurisdictions failing to comply with new federal election security requirements.
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources3
Leaning Left2Leaning Right0Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Left
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Left
67% Left
L 67%
C 33%
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