A FEMA Insider Says Morale Has Never Been Lower at the Embattled Agency
5/26/202626 min
The Trump Administration has made little secret of its desire to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency and give states the responsibility to respond to all manner of natural disasters on their own. FEMA has endured tremendous internal strife over leadership, and reports have suggested its mission has been compromised by partisan decision-making: President Trump—the sole arbiter of who ultimately gets FEMA relief—has rejected aid for Democratic-led states at the highest rate in the agency’s history. This has led to accusations of emergency aid being used as a “political cudgel,” and has had a chilling effect on some of the rank-and-file staff at the agency. The New Yorker Radio Hour’s Adam Howard speaks to a longtime employee of FEMA about what’s going on behind the scenes, and whether it could have a negative impact on the agency’s ability to respond to the next emergency.
The subject of this interview is currently working for FEMA, a federal agency, and he asked to remain anonymous. His voice has been digitally regenerated for the audio of this interview.
Further reading and listening:
- “American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA,” by “On the Media”
- “Outrage and Paranoia After Hurricane Helene,” by Jessica Pishko
- “For the Victims of Florence, Trump Needs to Prove that He Can Get Hurricane Recovery Right,” by Doug Bock Clark and Charles Bethea
- “Inequality and Hurricane Harvey,” by Ben Taub
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[upbeat music] The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC and The New Yorker.
Adam Howard· Host0:06
Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm Adam Howard. We're confronted with so many scandals when it comes to the federal government under the second Trump administration that many controversies which would normally dominate the headlines have largely flown under the radar. Take, for instance, the situation at FEMA. Yes, there is a situation at FEMA. The oft-criticized but crucial agency tasked with helping states respond to all manner of natural disasters has endured tremendous internal strife over leadership, and reports have suggested that its mission has been compromised by partisan decision-making. President Trump, who is the sole arbiter of who ultimately gets FEMA relief, has rejected aid for Democratic-led states at the highest rate in the nearly fifty-year history of the agency. He's approved only twenty-three percent of Democratic requests while approving eighty-nine percent of those coming from Republicans. This has led to accusations of emergency aid being used as a political cudgel, and it's had a chilling effect on some of the rank and file that work at the agency. I spoke to a longtime employee of FEMA about what's going on behind the scenes and whether it could have a negative impact on the agency's ability to respond to the next inevitable crisis. Since they are currently still actively working in the federal government, they