Senator Markwayne Mullin, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has left disaster management officials wary after his confirmation hearing, where he declined to commit to reversing staffing cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, said the agency should be “restructured, not eliminated”, but failed to reassure critics that Fema would be adequately resourced.
During the hearing, Mullin criticised his predecessor Kristi Noem’s policy of personally reviewing all Fema expenditures over $100,000, calling it “micromanaging”. However, he did not promise to end the staff reductions that have seen Fema lose 10 per cent of its workforce in the first half of 2025. When pressed on whether the agency is overstaffed, Mullin said he could not answer, adding that he would ensure adequate staffing once confirmed.
A Government Accountability Office report from September indicated that Fema’s “limited workforce capacity” was compromising its ability to keep the nation safe from disasters. One anonymous Fema manager noted that the cuts had removed senior-level staff with irreplaceable expertise. “We cannot hire our way back to that,” the manager said.
Michael Coen, a former Fema chief of staff, cautiously welcomed Mullin’s pledge to reduce DHS micromanagement but said the emergency management community would await his actions. Critics also point to Mullin’s record of questioning climate science and his suggestion that states, not the federal government, should lead disaster response, raising concerns about future preparedness.
