These are not distant bureaucrats.
They are the frontline disaster responders who deploy into hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and tornado zones — often before the cameras arrive and long after the headlines move on. Staff inside the agency have already given the layoffs a name: the “New Year’s Eve Massacre.”
One former FEMA official put it bluntly: FEMA cannot do disaster response and recovery without these workers. Regional offices across the country are staffed largely by CORE employees. Remove them, and the first federal boots on the ground simply won’t be there. States will be left to fend for themselves when disaster hits.
This isn’t a one-off decision or a misunderstanding. It’s the continuation of a year-long campaign by Trump to undermine FEMA itself. He has openly floated the idea of dismantling the agency, insisting that states should handle disasters on their own and that federal coordination is a waste of time. In other words: if your state is poor, understaffed, or already overwhelmed, good luck.
That choice would be reckless in any era. In this one, it’s indefensible.
According to climate researchers, 2025 was the second-hottest year ever recorded, following directly behind 2024. The last three years combined have blown past temperature thresholds that scientists once warned would mark a dangerous new phase of global warming.
Hotter years don’t just mean uncomfortable summers. They mean stronger hurricanes, heavier floods, longer fire seasons, and disasters that stack on top of each other faster than communities can recover.
Yet instead of strengthening the systems meant to protect people, the administration is hollowing them out. Internal proposals reviewed by journalists suggest FEMA could ultimately see thousands more layoffs, with disaster response shifted downward to states and local governments already stretched thin. Public meetings on these plans were abruptly canceled after backlash.
We’ve seen what this looks like in real life. After catastrophic flooding in Central Texas in 2025, experts warned that staffing and funding cuts to federal agencies undermined forecasting, coordination, and early response. When help arrives late — or not at all — the people who suffer most are the ones without resources to evacuate, rebuild, or hire private recovery crews.
That’s the moral core of this story. FEMA exists because disaster should not be a test of wealth or geography. It’s meant to be a guarantee that when things go wrong — and they will — the country shows up for its people. Weakening that promise while climate disasters intensify isn’t fiscal discipline. It’s a choice about who deserves help and who can be written off.
You don’t abolish the fire department during wildfire season. You don’t fire emergency medics during a mass-casualty event. And you don’t gut the nation’s disaster response agency while the planet is heating up — unless abandoning collective responsibility is the point.
Because when the next storm hits, the question won’t be whether FEMA was “efficient.” It will be whether anyone came at all.
