fema job cuts becoming true
Claire B. Rubin is a fellow blogger at Recovery Diva. She captured the essence of a NY Times article linked below. These are the cuts that were projected in a recent blog post I had written a couple of days ago. In my opinion, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Kristi Noem are digging themselves into a very deep, dark hole. There were no significant disasters in 2025. Those positions being cut now will be needed in the future when a truly large disaster hits. It is not “mega news” now, but in the future, it will come back to bite her.
Today I also had a conversation with a former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff member. He stated that the response function and staffing have already been hollowed out at FEMA. Most of the senior leadership in that area of responsibility in the department have already departed and not been replaced with staff of an equal caliber and experience. It is not easy to replace experience.
I’m reminded of the story of someone who is walking about and smelling poop. Where is that smell coming from? Then, they realize that it was they who had stepped in a pile of dog poop. They don’t know it yet, but DHS has stepped in a pile of poop—they just can’t smell it yet.
FEMA Likely To Dismiss 1,000 Workers
Posted on January 7, 2026 by RecoveryDiva
From the NYTimes: FEMA Staff Bracing for Dismissal of 1,000 Disaster Workers The job cuts expected this month are part of a plan by the Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, to remake the agency.
“Federal Emergency Management Agency supervisors are advising their staff to prepare for the elimination of 1,000 jobs this month as part of changes that Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is overseeing at the agency, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.
The dismissals would apply to contractual FEMA staff whose assignments, which typically last for two or four years, expire this month. The workers, known as FEMA’s Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees, or CORE, help facilitate disaster recovery and emergency preparedness in communities across the country and have historically made up nearly 40 percent of the agency’s work force.
Three FEMA employees, including senior officials and supervisors, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media, confirmed the dismissals.”
