Congress’ oversight arm has issued an unprecedented warning about the risks facing federal disaster aid.
The Government Accountability Office said staffing levels and other workforce issues at the Federal Emergency Management Agency “has limited its capacity to provide effective disaster assistance.” It added that FEMA “needs to strengthen its disaster workforce by addressing staffing gaps.”
A staffing shortage that persisted from 2019 to 2022 “continues to grow” and left the agency with minimal staffing when Hurricane Milton hit Florida in October, days after Hurricane Helene deluged the state and large parts of the Southeast, GAO found.
The warning coincides with President Donald Trump’s threats to shutter FEMA, and it came two weeks after his administration fired at least 200 people from the agency.
