‘It’s an absolutely ridiculous system’: Kristi Noem’s new plan for FEMA makes it even more bureaucratic than ever, say employees

According to current and former employees, the Trump administration has turned the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) into a “doom loop” of bureaucracy and red tape, completely destroying morale and creating an environment that is “antithetical to efficiency”. While the Trump administration has called for letting states take the lead in disaster response in order to streamline the process, current FEMA leadership has done the exact opposite, making the agency less effective.

This has resulted in several high-profile resignations and warnings from nearly 200 current and former FEMA employees that the agency’s current direction could lead to another disaster on the level of Hurricane Katrina. The current situation is bad, but it seems to be getting worse.

The biggest problem, according to a report from NOTUS, is a new policy that requires Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to personally sign off on all expense requests over $100,000. While the administration says this policy is to ensure that “every recovery dollar is used as effectively as possible,” it has resulted in a massive bottleneck.

Trump’s FEMA is more useless than you know

One FEMA employee told NOTUS that “It’s an absolutely ridiculous system,” adding that “for an administration that came in touting how much they’re gonna cut the red tape and bureaucracy, it’s comical the level of bureaucracy they put in place instead”. Apparently, nearly everything FEMA does is over $100,000, so a “seven-step” approval process is required for everything from disaster aid funding to supplies and infrastructure.

The situation is made worse because the memo templates for requesting approval change constantly, sometimes multiple times a week. FEMA staff only get a single page to justify their spending and can’t use any acronyms because a person named “DOGE” is included in the approval process, and they don’t know the acronyms.

As of September 8, there were nearly 200 memos waiting for approval from the Department of Homeland Security. Current employees say they send dozens of requests each day but only get a few back. The employees are even left in the dark about whether the memos are signed at all because “nobody at the department tells us” when they’ve been approved.

This is a serious issue that has led to a major culture shift within the agency. One employee said the mood is “very anxious, very confused, very stressed,” and that the inconsistent information and guidance have “basically ground a lot of activities in the agency to a halt”. Another employee said, “The severe fatigue that I’m seeing from people, both from all the changes and trying to keep up and the trauma, has fundamentally changed some people into the worst versions of themselves”.

This is a complete departure from the agency’s prior focus. James Stroud, a suspended FEMA employee who signed a letter warning Congress about the changes, said that the agency’s primary mission used to be “to save people,” but now it seems like the primary goal is to cut costs.