FEMA leadership vacancies spark concerns ahead of hurricane season

Nearly half of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s top leadership positions are vacant, with just weeks before Atlantic hurricane season begins.

FEMA’s website shows that of the 38 senior leadership positions at the agency, 18 of them are completely vacant. Several others being filled in an acting capacity.

The agency is now being led by Robert Fenton, Jr., the senior official performing the duties of the FEMA administrator. Fenton is the administrator for FEMA Region 9.

High-level vacancies at FEMA headquarters include deputy administrator, chief of staff, associate administrator for national continuity programs, and associate administrator for policy and programs analysis.

Meanwhile, several FEMA regional leadership positions are vacant heading into Atlantic hurricane season, including the Region 4 administrator role. Region 4 covers Florida and other parts of the Southeastern United States.

House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-N.Y.) highlighted FEMA’s leadership vacancies, among several issues, in a May 14 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Fenton. The letter points to “deteriorating readiness” at FEMA.

“The Trump administration spent much of the past year systematically weakening FEMA—forcing out thousands of staff, halting critical preparedness programs, and stalling up to $17 billion in disaster relief funding,” the pair wrote. “Hurricane season begins June 1, and by every available measure FEMA is less prepared to respond than it has been in a generation.”

President Donald Trump had not selected a permanent FEMA administrator until earlier this month, when he nominated Cameron Hamilton to serve in the role. Hamilton was the first of four acting leaders who have been at FEMA since last January. He was fired last spring after stating in Congressional testimony that FEMA should continue to exist, as then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump at the time had been calling for the agency to be eliminated.

The latest acting leader, Karen Evans, was replaced by Fenton, a career official, earlier this month.

Michael Coen, who served as FEMA’s chief of staff during the Obama administration, said FEMA has been “in a state of transition” for 16 months, partially due to the lack of a Senate-confirmed leader.

“Recruiting and filling executive positions should be a priority for an incoming administrator,” Coen said. “The executives are critical in providing leadership during FEMA’s support to states following major disasters. A hiring freeze has left most agency programs and offices led by acting staff.”

FEMA did not respond to a request for comment.

Thompson and Kennedy’s letter also highlights staffing cuts at FEMA under the Trump administration. The letter says more than 5,000 employees have departed FEMA since January 2025, citing an email on file with the Homeland Security Committee.

The lawmakers said the Trump administration has “gutted FEMA’s on-the-ground workforce, virtually guaranteeing that the Agency will not be able to adequately respond to major incidents.”

Earlier this year, FEMA had started non-renewing contract staff known as Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees (CORE). Those cuts came against the backdrop of FEMA leaders and DHS headquarters planning to cut the agency’s staff by up to 50%.

The staffing cuts drew a lawsuit from federal employee unions and nonprofits, challenging how FEMA staffing decisions were reportedly being made at DHS headquarters. The lawsuit is ongoing, but FEMA paused the cuts and recently began offering those COREs who were non-renewed their jobs back.

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