Washington, DC, August 28, 2025 — As the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall approaches, news reports say that the Trump administration has begun to place on leave dozens of FEMA workers who raised concerns of funding cuts and staffing shortages putting lives at risk in the event of another Katrina-level disaster. The agency has already lost an estimated 2,000 employees since the start of Donald Trump’s second term.

More than 180 of the remaining employees signed a letter to Congress earlier this week warning that Trump’s efforts to gut our disaster preparedness efforts at the agency have increased the risks of a major disaster and subsequent response failure. More than 30 of the FEMA workers who signed their names publicly have now been placed on leave at the agency, according to multiple outlets.

The 2005 hurricane was one of the deadliest storms in US history, responsible for the death of more than 1,800 people and an estimated $125 billion in damage.

In response, Sierra Club Director of Climate Policy and Advocacy Patrick Drupp released the following statement:

“Donald Trump is stopping at nothing to put Americans’ lives and livelihoods in perilous danger. Hurricane Katrina laid bare not just the deadly threat of extreme weather but also the tragedy of how an inadequate response at the federal level can exacerbate a disaster and upend countless more lives. These Americans have dedicated their time and careers to improving our response to crises. Any decision to freeze or terminate their employment for rightly sounding the alarm on the Trump Administration’s ongoing failures and missteps is a disservice to all families and communities who have been or may soon be forced to count on FEMA and their federal government in a time of need. This agency does life-saving work and that work requires proper funding and adequate staffing levels, not continued incompetence and petty politics from the White House.”

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.