"The agency is planning to bring back most of the staffers from the Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery who were terminated as part of Kristi Noem’s plans to cut the agency."
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency is working to rehire more than 100 disaster-response employees who had been fired months ago in time for hurricane season, according to FEMA officials.
The agency is planning to bring back most of the staffers from the Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE), FEMA’s largest workforce, who were suddenly terminated this past winter as part of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem’s plans to cut the agency by 50 percent. These employees are among the first on the ground after a disaster and often stick around for years to help communities recover. They work under two- to four-year contracts that are usually renewed, barring any performance issues, because disaster recovery efforts can span years, if not decades.
“As we approach the 2026 hurricane season and the FIFA World Cup, FEMA is taking targeted steps to stabilize our workforce and strengthen readiness. Under new leadership, FEMA is addressing outstanding personnel actions to ensure workforce stability and a strong, deployable surge force for upcoming national events and potential disasters,” said Victoria Barton, FEMA’s associate administrator of the Office of External Affairs. “Despite the ongoing lapse in DHS appropriations, FEMA remains committed to operational readiness for all major challenges in 2026.”"
Brianna Sacks reports for the Washington Post April 30, 2026.
