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Hurricane season is set to commence on June 1, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — which has been experiencing organizational challenges for the past several weeks — has reportedly rescinded its guiding plan for agency objectives and priorities, according to multiple FEMA employees and a memo obtained by news outlet Wired.
On Wednesday, newly minted acting agency head David Richardson rescinded the 2022-2026 strategic plan put into place by former FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell during the Biden administration, saying it “contains goals and objectives that bear no connection to FEMA accomplishing its mission,” the outlet reported. “This summer, a new 2026-2030 strategy will be developed. The strategy will tie directly to FEMA executing its mission-essential tasks.”
The web address for the plan currently returns a “page not found” error. While the impacted plan is not designed to offer guidance on tackling specific disasters, it serves as a “guiding document for the agency’s objectives and priorities,” the report stated.
Multiple agency employees reached out to Wired to offer perspective, saying they couldn’t recall a time when the plan was rescinded without a replacement ready to assume its place. One employee said the action could cause “significant downstream effects” at the agency as it prepares for the coming storm season.
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a bulletin stating that above-average temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean this year have the potential to cause “above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year,” offering a “30% chance of a near-normal season, a 60% chance of an above-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season,” the bulletin said.
FEMA employees who spoke to Wired, requesting anonymity since they were not authorized to speak publicly, expressed surprise that the plan had not been rescinded sooner. The plan as instituted under the Biden administration was rife with language regarding equity and climate resilience, which the Trump administration has sought to quash in government since assuming office in January.
Areas recovering from recent disasters also saw relief funding put at risk as the administration targeted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) provisions across government programs. President Donald Trump sought to restrict such initiatives from government in an early second-term executive order.
Geoff Harbaugh, associate administrator of external affairs at FEMA, issued a statement to Wired saying that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Richardson are “shifting from bloated, D.C.-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.
“The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades. Complaints about morale, training and planning come from the same internal class that resisted accountability for decades.”
