On the First Day of Hurricane Season, Trump Has Left Us Unprepared

The Trump administration is entering hurricane season with the smallest disaster workforce since 2021

Washington, DC – Today marks the first day of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, but Donald Trump has left us unprepared. The Trump administration is entering hurricane season with the smallest disaster workforce since 2021. Trump’s cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service have degraded forecasts and are putting at risk the accuracy of life-saving weather alerts that people rely on during hurricanes. Trump has also gutted FEMA — weakening our disaster response capabilities and delaying critical aid that communities rely on to recover after a storm. 

Monica Medina, Climate Power Co-Chair and former Principal Deputy Undersecretary of NOAA, issued the following statement: “Trump’s cuts have left us less prepared for hurricane season. With NOAA and FEMA understaffed, the remaining staff are often inexperienced, stretched too thin, or burned out. Life-saving alerts are at risk, and critical warnings and government emergency response could be delayed – leaving families unprepared and having to fend for themselves when a hurricane or dangerous storm hits. It only takes one missed forecast for there to be tragic consequences. With these cuts, Trump is gambling with people’s lives.”   

Trump has left us unprepared for hurricane season:

• The Trump administration is entering hurricane season with the smallest disaster workforce since 2021, a huge backlog of state aid requests, and 15 vacancies in top emergency management jobs.
• Trump fired and planned to cut about 2,300 workers at NOAA, including hurricane hunters and researchers at the National Severe Storm Laboratory.
• NOAA scientists said Trump’s cuts to the agency undermine critical hurricane forecasts.
• Trump gutted the National Weather Service, leaving nearly half of weather forecast offices critically understaffed and 30 of the 122 (24.5%) offices lacking a meteorologist-in-charge.
• Because of the Trump administration’s massive layoffs, NWS eliminated or reduced vital weather balloon launches, which degraded forecasts during previous storms.
• Trump’s reconciliation bill, passed by congressional Republicans, included provisions that cut weather forecasting and research funding for programs that would have improved forecasting, monitoring, and public communication of hazardous weather.

• NOAA announced it would no longer track the number of climate disasters that cost over $1 billion, leaving insurance companies, researchers, and policymakers without key information to help understand major disaster weather patterns.
• Trump has undermined FEMA’s role in helping communities prepare for disasters. Trump’s FY27 budget proposal included cutting $1.3 billion in FEMA funds for state and local emergency preparedness. 
• Last month, Trump’s FEMA Review Council released its recommendations to overhaul the agency, pushing more financial and administrative burden for disaster recovery onto states and local communities that cannot afford it. 
• Trump has cut key FEMA staff, delaying the distribution of critical disaster funding. In 2025, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security drafted plans to cut FEMA’s workforce by more than 50%, which would have resulted in the loss of more than 11,500 jobs.
• Trump has consistently politicized disaster aid. As of March 2026, it was three times harder for Democratic-led states to get Trump’s approval for federal disaster aid. Trump approved just 23% of disaster aid requests from Democratic-led states, compared to 89% for Republican-led states. 
• Under Trump, pending FEMA disaster applications have sat longer on average than at any other point in the previous 37 years.
• Trump stopped approving new allocations from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation and Grant Program, becoming the first president in at least three decades to deny governors’ requests for funding that’s meant to protect people and property.
• Trump’s previous DHS Secretary, Kristi Noem, consistently mismanaged FEMA and fumbled the agency’s response to major disasters. As of January 2026, Noem’s requirement for her personal approval on all FEMA expenses exceeding $100,000 created a $17 billion bottleneck, causing months-long delays in delivering federal disaster funds to states. 
• The Government Accountability Office warned that FEMA’s staffing crisis, caused by Trump-era cuts, exacerbated existing challenges and severely undermined national disaster readiness.