The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to restart staff reductions that were temporarily halted during January’s severe winter storm, according to two FEMA managers who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the staffing changes publicly. The managers said the planned renewals pause and restart have heightened internal concern about whether FEMA can carry out disaster response and recovery with fewer workers.
FEMA at the start of January “abruptly stopped renewing employment contracts” for a group of term-limited staffers called the Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery, or CORE, the AP reported, describing them as capable of holding senior roles and playing a key part in emergency response. The winter storm temporarily changed the timeline: the managers said FEMA paused the CORE-related cuts in late January as the nation prepared for the storm that was expected to affect “half the country’s population,” and FEMA did not say whether the pause was tied to the storm.
This week, the two managers said they were told the dismissals would resume soon, but they were not given a specific date and it was unclear how many people would be affected. The managers said they were often told of terminations only when employees learned they were being dismissed, after the contract-extending discussions that managers had historically handled months in advance.
FEMA staff told the AP that the policy terminating CORE employees “indiscriminately terminates employees” without taking into account the importance of their roles or their years of experience. Staffers described the impact as erasing entire teams or leaving groups without managers, including supervisors and longer-tenured employees, according to the AP report.
One FEMA manager, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “It’s a big impact to our ability to implement and carry out the programs entrusted to us to carry out.” The managers also said they were unsure who inside the Department of Homeland Security or FEMA was driving the decision, describing a shift in how leaders communicated staffing changes.
In an emailed statement, FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargues did not confirm or deny that planned staffing cuts were resuming, but he said the CORE program is meant to “fluctuate based on operational need and available funding.” Llargues said: “We are confident that our staffing decisions are consistent with both the mission and the intended structure of the CORE program,” according to the AP account of his remarks.
The AP reported that there are more than 10,000 CORE workers, making up nearly half of FEMA’s workforce. While those employees are on two- and four-year contracts, the AP said managers described those terms as “routinely renewed” and characterized CORE as the “primary backbone” for FEMA response and recovery work. The AP also described that CORE employees are paid from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and are not subject to as long a hiring process as permanent full-time federal employees, which can allow quicker onboarding when needs arise.
The staffing reductions are unfolding amid a broader effort to reduce FEMA’s workforce, the AP reported, alongside administration plans to reform the agency by shifting more emergency management responsibility to states and reducing what it describes as waste. The AP also reported that critics have raised concerns about FEMA’s performance, including delays in getting disaster funding to states, as FEMA’s workforce reductions have continued.
Earlier reductions at FEMA were already substantial before the CORE cuts were paused for the winter storm. The AP reported that the Government Accountability Office found FEMA lost nearly 10% of its workforce between January and June 2025, and that staff concerns have grown in recent months that larger cuts could follow. The AP said a draft report from a Trump-appointed FEMA Review Council included a recommendation to cut FEMA’s workforce in half, citing a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the report with media.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced a resolution condemning the staffing cuts, the AP reported. Thompson said: “Based on past disasters, we know that slashing FEMA’s workforce will put Americans at risk, plain and simple,” after introducing the resolution on Wednesday.
The AP also reported that a coalition of unions and nonprofits led by the American Federation of Government Employees filed a legal complaint against the Trump administration over the FEMA reductions last week. In addition, a CORE employee at FEMA headquarters who asked not to be named for fear of losing their job told the AP that although FEMA supported states during Winter Storm Fern, the cumulative effect of a year of staff losses could already be felt—leaving fewer people available for backup and adding burnout tied to ongoing uncertainty.