Former FEMA chief says Trump administration has abandoned plans to dismantle agency

Former acting administrator David Richardson, who oversaw FEMA during 2025, said President Trump’s earlier calls to dismantle the agency have softened and that FEMA is likely to continue operating. Richardson, a former Marine artillery officer, had arrived in May 2025 with a plan to cut headquarters staff dramatically, but the proposed reductions never received final approval. Current employees say anxiety over large-scale cuts has lessened, even as the agency still struggles with understaffing in disaster-recovery functions, according to a GAO report.

Policy analysts argue that past attempts to shrink FEMA worsened existing challenges, while a new FEMA Review Council is now recommending reforms rather than elimination. The White House declined comment, and a bipartisan reform bill remains in committee, with the agency recently launching a pilot program with Indiana to speed flood-relief payments.