FACT CHECK: Trump and Republicans’ Cuts to Disaster Response Have Left Us Vulnerable & Unprepared

“All of those fears we have about what’s going to happen to FEMA during a shutdown, essentially, that’s the world we’re living in at the moment” 

Washington, D.C. – As they scramble to deflect blame for the government shutdown, Vice President JD Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, and other Republicans are trying to blame Democrats for stalling disaster aid. In reality, Trump and Republicans have been slashing funding for disaster response since the moment he took office – leaving our communities vulnerable. Thanks to Trump, the country was already unprepared for hurricane season, and now he and Republicans in Congress are making it worse, all to protect tax cuts for billionaires.

FACT: The Trump administration’s mandatory early retirements, furloughs, and reductions in force have meant that FEMA is already operating as if it were in a shutdown.      

FACT: Trump cut roughly 20% of the staff responsible for preventing and responding to disasters. 

FACT: In August, more than 180 experts risked retaliation from Trump to warn that the administration’s reckless cuts and poor leadership are sending FEMA “back to a pre-Katrina era.”

FACT: Major disaster declarations are taking longer under Trump than under previous presidents – delaying and blocking critical aid. On average, under Trump, it takes more than a month for a governor’s request for a presidential disaster declaration to be granted.

FACT: According to an internal agency review, FEMA was “not ready” ahead of hurricane season and was months behind schedule in its preparations.

FACT: Trump’s FEMA head scrapped the agency’s hurricane plan at the last minute to revert to last year’s plan.

FACT: Trump cut disaster-response training for local and state emergency managers just before the start of hurricane season.

FACT: Trump has eliminated door-to-door canvassing in disaster areas by federal relief workers. 

FACT: While Texas was flooding, FEMA’s acting administrator, David Richardson, couldn’t be reached, according to key staff, slowing response and resource efforts.

FACT: Trump laid off hundreds of employees from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including hurricane hunters and researchers at the National Severe Storm Laboratory. 

FACT: The National Weather Service has lost nearly 600 employees due to cuts from DOGE and the Trump administration. Because of Trump’s massive cuts, NWS eliminated or reduced vital weather balloon launches, which degraded forecasts during previous storms and threatened life-saving weather alerts.

FACT: Millions of Americans would lose their flood insurance coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program—a program which Trump’s previous acting FEMA head suggested halting.

FACT: Trump’s efforts to gut disaster relief and weather monitoring have left us completely unprepared. The Republicans’ government shutdown would push the already understaffed and underfunded agencies responsible for keeping communities safe during disasters to the breaking point.  

FACT: President Trump has used federal workers as political pawns in shutdown negotiations, threatening mass firings that would make it harder to monitor extreme weather, putting communities at risk.