EXCLUSIVE-FEMA extends hiring freeze through 2025 as hurricane season looms

By Courtney Rozen and Nathan Layne

WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has extended a hiring freeze through at least the end of this year, according to three sources familiar with the matter, as the peak of hurricane season approaches.

The Trump administration froze hiring government-wide through October 15, with exceptions for public safety employees and a few other categories. FEMA is extending that freeze, according to the sources.

FEMA did not immediately comment on the extension. The agency said in a statement on Friday that reductions in its workforce are not impacting its ability to respond to disasters.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is "implementing President Trump’s mandate to cut waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, of which there was more than plenty at FEMA," the agency said in the statement. Noem oversees FEMA.

News about the freeze trickled through the agency the same week that three dozen former and current FEMA employees signed a public letter of dissent against the agency’s leaders. The letter, sent by a mix of former political appointees and permanent staff, said the inexperience of the Trump administration’s top appointees could lead to catastrophe at the level of Hurricane Katrina.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the storm that devastated towns across the Gulf Coast.

The Trump administration put staff named in the letter on leave.

Trump said in June that he plans to phase out FEMA after the 2025 hurricane season. The end of FEMA would mean big changes for the millions of Americans who rely on the agency after hurricanes, wildfires, floods, tornadoes and other natural disasters each year. FEMA sends billions of dollars annually to states to shelter people who have lost their homes, distribute food and rebuild damaged buildings.

Several high-ranking officials have left the agency since President Donald Trump took office, raising concerns about whether the agency will be equipped to handle a large-scale disaster. In May, FEMA's then-acting administrator, Cameron Hamilton, was fired abruptly and replaced by David Richardson, a DHS official with no prior experience in managing responses to natural disasters. In an early meeting with staff, Richardson vowed to "run right over" employees who resisted reforms.