As has been the case over and OVER from actions in the beginning of Trump 2.0…..
Thousands of US Govt. workers put on leave or even fired in the Trump /Musk government ‘Reduction’ meat saw period?
Are now being asked and begged to come to work…..
The agency now has new boss up for confirmation that has told Congress he supports the agency’s mission and does NOT want it eliminated….
Trump had pressed for states to take over its functions by law suits and relizati onn that Congress, NOT Trump only has the authority to shut down govt. departments and agencies….
Added to this is the summer and fall weather that comes BEFORE the 2026 Midterm Elections?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is reversing job cuts that Kristi Noem, the former homeland security secretary, had overseen before she was fired last month.
FEMA has reinstated 14 people who had signed a public letter that became known as the Katrina Declaration, which warned that the agency risked repeating mistakes learned during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said Abby McIlraith, one of the reinstated workers and an emergency management specialist. Another 21 people who signed their names are no longer at the agency, Ms. McIlraith said.
The agency has also begun calling disaster workers who were let go in January to offer them their jobs back, according to two people familiar with the actions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the move publicly. The agency parted ways with some 200 workers who served in temporary roles when their assignments came up for renewal in January. It was a major departure from past practices, and prompted unions to file a lawsuit against the agency, arguing that the dismissals violated FEMA’s statutory requirement to maintain readiness for disasters.
The agency is taking steps to “stabilize” its work force ahead of hurricane season, which begins in June, and the World Cup, with soccer matches to be held across the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July, said Victoria L. Barton, a FEMA spokeswoman.
“Under new leadership, FEMA is addressing outstanding personnel actions to ensure work force stability and a strong, deployable surge force for upcoming national events and potential disasters,” Ms. Barton said in an email.
Markwayne Mullin, the former Republican senator from Oklahoma, took over as homeland security secretary in late March. FEMA is part of the Homeland Security Department.
FEMA had about 18,500 people in its incident management work force as of Thursday, according to a daily briefing on its operations, which is nearly 2,000 fewer than it had at the end of last year….
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FEMA officials did not respond to questions about how its decisions to reverse the dismissals could affect that litigation, in which the plaintiffs are seeking the reinstatement of those workers.
Ms. McIlraith said that getting her job back after being fired for signing the protest letter is a vindication. But she said that the agency “is arguably in a worse state than it was back in August when I signed the Katrina Declaration.”
“A hiring freeze is still in effect, FEMA still has no legally qualified administrator, money isn’t getting to states that need it, we have wildfire and hurricane seasons coming up, and as a result the public is in severe danger,” Ms. McIlraith said….
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New FEMA head…
President Trump intends to nominate Cameron Hamilton to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency after he was pushed out as acting leader nearly a year ago, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Mr. Hamilton, who has limited disaster management experience, is a former Navy SEAL who worked for a defense contractor and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Virginia before taking over FEMA.
Mr. Hamilton was ousted from that position after he told members of Congress that the agency should not be eliminated. Mr. Trump had said early in his second term, “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away.” But when Congress pressed him on the agency’s future in a hearing last May, Mr. Hamilton contradicted that outlook.
“I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Mr. Hamilton said on May 7….
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His nomination could raise concern among emergency managers because of a federal law passed after Hurricane Katrina requiring that the FEMA administrator carry extensive experience managing disaster response.
Mr. Hamilton previously worked as an emergency management specialist in the State Department and as a division director in the Department of Homeland Security, where he managed emergency medical technicians on the southern border.
He would take over an agency that has lost thousands of employees since Mr. Trump took office, and whose future has appeared in flux as Kristi Noem, the former homeland security secretary, explored eliminating or dramatically reshaping it….
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