Deanne Criswell, Former Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), recently addressed the Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus to discuss the value of federal emergency management, and efforts by the Trump administration to eliminate the agency.
The Caucus, formed two years ago, promotes the benefits of resilience and the need for equity in the country’s disaster preparedness and response infrastructure. Reps. Bennie G. Thompson, Troy A. Carter Sr., Dina Titus, and Tim Kennedy all serve as Co-Chairs of the Caucus.
The Trump administration’s DOGE Service has targeted FEMA in a move to reduce wasteful and fraudulent federal spending, and eliminate excessive regulations, while modernizing federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. In addition to FEMA, DOGE has sought out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Department of Education (DOE), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Treasury Department, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), among other federal agencies.
“I’m fighting to protect FEMA from political attacks, strengthen our response to snow and extreme winter weather through the SNOW Act, and close the equity gaps that continue to leave seniors, low-income families, and communities of color behind when disaster strikes,” said Rep. Kennedy. “FEMA isn’t a luxury–it is a lifeline.”
CNN reports that FEMA, which had employed more than 20,000, shed roughly 30% of its full-time staff to a series of layoffs and DOGE buyouts, impacting both FEMA’s headquarters and regional offices. President Donald Trump has criticized FEMA for months as “ineffective and unnecessary,” and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, has stated that she seeks to “eliminate” the agency. FEMA is currently being led by David Richardson, a Trump appointee without prior disaster response experience.
Criswell is a nationally recognized leader in emergency management, disaster response, and crisis preparedness, with more than 30 years of experience at the local, state, and federal levels. Under the Biden Administration, Criswell became the 12th Administrator of FEMA and the first woman to hold the position, she has led the nation’s response to some of the most complex disasters in modern history. Before leading FEMA, she served as the Commissioner of New York City Emergency Management, where she oversaw the city’s response to major disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather events. Prior to that, she was the Emergency Manager for the City of Aurora, Colorado, strengthening the city’s disaster response capabilities. Her earlier tenure at FEMA included key leadership roles in federal disaster coordination, and she also spent more than 20 years serving in the Colorado Air National Guard, where she gained invaluable experience in military crisis management.
As FEMA Administrator, Criswell led efforts to make disaster response more equitable, enhance climate resilience, and improve coordination with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments.
Criswell addressed the Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus approximately one month into the 2025 hurricane season, which began June 1 and runs through November 30. The 2024 hurricane season saw 18 named storms nationwide, 11 of which became hurricanes, and five of which reached major hurricane status.
Criswell added FEMA regularly works with the NOAA to stay up to date on forecasts and prepare for response efforts. NOAA supports FEMA and state emergency responders directly, she said. In places like New Orleans, its staff can help predict where the water will rise and whether the levees will be able to sustain it, in addition to other risks.
NOAA has fired hundreds of employees in their probationary status and pushed out hundreds more through various incentives, though Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently told Congress key positions at the agency are “fully staffed” and some hiring has resumed.
Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey, a member of the Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus asked Crisell about FEMA’s ability to manage overlapping disasters in light of current agency cutbacks.
“FEMA takes a tiered approach to staffing, and they plan for back-to-back disasters, and there’s several open disasters at any given time, but there are also 10 regions,” noted Criswell. “When you end up with back-to-back disasters, it takes the entirety of the FEMA enterprise to be able to pivot and go in and support multiple senior leader positions across a disaster.”
Due to layoffs and cutbacks, less staff equals less respondents to disasters, and therefore, less assistance to those in dire need during times of crisis.
“The recoveries don’t stop,” added Criswell. “They still need the staff that are going in there. And so when you have less people, you are going to have less ability to actually fill those senior roles. That means it’s going to take longer, and that means some things are going to have to get prioritized over others in order to meet the most immediate needs. It just slows down the entire response and delays the recovery process from starting. Many of you have probably heard me say time is our most precious commodity … it’s the one thing we can never get back. When you lose that and when you have less people, that’s the one thing you’re going to lose. Things will still happen. They’re just going to take longer, which means people are going to have a delayed ability to start their own recovery.”
