FEMA walks back Noem's purge ahead of hurricanes and the World Cup

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is rolling back the staff cuts orchestrated by former Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, reinstating workers and recalling disaster personnel it had pushed out only months earlier, the New York Times reported on 30 April 2026.

FEMA has brought back 14 of the 35 employees who signed the August 2025 Katrina Declaration, an open letter warning that Trump-era cuts were erasing post-2005 reforms, according to reinstated emergency management specialist Abby McIlraith. The agency is also calling back roughly 200 temporary disaster workers it released in January, a move that drew a union lawsuit alleging FEMA had violated its statutory readiness mandate.

Spokeswoman Victoria L. Barton said the agency is moving to "stabilize" its workforce ahead of the June hurricane season and World Cup matches scheduled across the US, Canada, and Mexico in June and July. "Under new leadership, FEMA is addressing outstanding personnel actions to ensure work force stability and a strong, deployable surge force," Barton said.

The reversals come under Markwayne Mullin, the former Oklahoma senator who took over DHS in late March after Noem was fired. FEMA's incident management workforce stood at roughly 18,500 on Thursday — nearly 2,000 below year-end 2025 levels.

The course correction also lands amid an expanding legal probe. Judge Susan Illston ordered FEMA to search the personal cellphone of Joseph Guy, a former Noem aide, and authorized depositions tied to an inspector general inquiry into DHS contracting under Noem and senior adviser Corey Lewandowski. Documents indicate acting Administrator Karen Evans took direction from former Noem contractor Kara Voorhies on personnel decisions.

McIlraith called her reinstatement a vindication but warned the agency "is arguably in a worse state" than last August, citing a continuing hiring freeze, no Senate-confirmed administrator, and stalled disbursements to states.