President Donald Trump’s cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency have compromised the agency’s ability to respond to disasters, especially if multiple catastrophes hit at once, a government watchdog says.
“With above normal hurricane and wildfire seasons expected this year, recent reductions in the federal workforce, including the loss of experienced emergency managers, may exacerbate existing challenges and impact the federal government’s readiness to respond to future disasters,” the Government Accountability Office reported Tuesday.
The analysis offers the clearest numbers to date of FEMA departures this year. The number of active FEMA employees dropped to 23,350 on June 1 from ...