A Trump administration official warned colleagues that the Federal Emergency Management Agency faces “increased risk” due to “workforce strain” and a growing number of disasters, according to internal documents reviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The series of memos — written in January and February by FEMA’s communications chief, a political appointee — appear to validate widespread concern about the ability of the nation’s disaster agency to help areas hit by storms, floods, wildfires and other disasters.
President Donald Trump has assailed FEMA since taking office last year, cutting both agency staff and programs that have given states billions of dollars to protect against natural disasters. The administration has expressed concern only recently about FEMA’s ability to function, as Trump officials blame Democrats in Congress for a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA.
But FEMA Associate Administrator Victoria Barton was warning of risks as early as Jan. 21, weeks before the DHS shutdown. In a memo on that date, she privately urged DHS to let FEMA change several agency policies that “create reputational, fiscal and oversight risk for DHS.”
Barton, who heads FEMA’s Office of External Affairs, said policy revisions could be done quickly and without action from Congress to strengthen FEMA for the upcoming hurricane season, which begins June 1.
“FEMA risks entering hurricane season without the clarity and discipline required for effective response,” Barton wrote in a follow-up memo dated “February 2026.” Barton said her proposed administrative changes would improve FEMA staff assignments, increase consistency and reduce the “strain” on the fund that pays for emergency disaster response and long-term rebuilding.
In the same month as Barton’s follow-up memo, DHS sharply restricted spending from its Disaster Relief Fund to conserve money for dangerous conditions as the fund dwindled.
The memos reviewed by E&E News cover eight pages with the names of recipients redacted. Several memos address FEMA’s response to the massive winter storm that swept the nation in late January. Most focus on improving long-standing agency problems.
FEMA said in a statement to E&E News that Barton’s memos “are pre-decisional and deliberate messages exchanged as part of ongoing internal discussions.” But neither the agency nor DHS answered a question about the department’s response to Barton.
“They are not formal memos, emails, or official proposals, and do not represent any final recommendations or decisions from Associate Administrator Barton or FEMA leadership,” the FEMA statement added.
Barton wrote the memos roughly a month after moving to FEMA from DHS, where she had been a counselor to then-Secretary Kristi Noem. Barton wrote all her memos before Trump ousted Noem and replaced her with Markwayne Mullin, who the Senate confirmed in March.
“She was a trusted appointee for Noem,” said Michael Coen, who was FEMA’s chief of staff during the Biden and Obama administrations. Coen said Barton’s stature with Noem makes her warnings about FEMA more significant. Barton was a political appointee in the first Trump administration.
“She’s not talking about perception risk. She’s talking about operational risk,” Coen said after E&E News showed him the memos. “A lot of us have been concerned about the operational risk recently.”
Peter Gaynor, who ran FEMA during Trump’s first presidency, called Barton’s memos “spot on.”
“All the things that they are trying to fix are things that have plagued the agency,” Gaynor said after E&E News showed him the memos. “It’s all common sense.”
Delayed recommendations
Barton wrote the memos five weeks after the White House blocked a major report from the FEMA Review Council.
The high-level panel — which Trump created to review FEMA and recommend changes — was scheduled to publicly vote on and release a 75-page report Dec. 11. The White House canceled the meeting minutes before it was to begin.
Barton noted in her memos that her proposed actions would be “explicitly interim pending Review Council outcomes.” The review council has not held a public meeting since the cancellation.
“The timing and scope of the FEMA Review Council remain uncertain. In the interim, FEMA is experiencing increased operational risk,” Barton wrote in January.
In February, she added, “There is now an opportunity — and expectation — to demonstrate credible, disciplined reform activity that improves readiness and execution without requiring statutory change or waiting for long-term structural decisions.”
The 13-member review council, headed by Mullin and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has until May 29 to release a report.
Coen, the former FEMA chief of staff, said it was startling that Barton felt the need to seek DHS approval to make administrative changes at FEMA.
“We would have never done that when I was there. We would tell DHS we’re changing the process. We would never request permission,” Coen said. “FEMA’s supposed to be an independent agency.”
In her Jan. 21 memo, Barton wrote, “Decision requested from DHS” and underneath added, “Approval to proceed with interim enterprise standardization actions that restore execution discipline, align workforce capacity to mission needs, and improve deployability — pending Review Council recommendations.”
Barton also suggested in the memo a quote for public use: “This is not reform, restructuring, or a permanent redesign. It’s disciplined execution — so FEMA delivers consistent outcomes, understands its true capacity, and reduces risk while broader decisions are pending.”
Some of the problems Barton identified continue to plague FEMA, agency records suggest.
Barton urged a FEMA “surge” to close so-called legacy disasters that were approved by presidents years ago but remain open. “Legacy disasters consume staff time and distort workload,” Barton wrote.
The Trump administration has closed only four disasters since Barton wrote her January memo, leaving 661 disasters open. The open disasters include 348 that were declared more than five years ago.
Gaynor, the former FEMA administrator, said the agency has long struggled to address its well-known problems.
“It is a steep climb to do comprehensive reform while you’re actually flying the plane,” Gaynor said. “At some point you have to tell somebody that we’re changing the policies midstream, and that will most likely affect states and locals that have an ongoing disaster.”
