Thompson and Kennedy called on DHS and FEMA to immediately release withheld disaster relief funding, restore critical hurricane-related contracts, reverse workforce reductions, and fill all vacant leadership positions.
He will urge DHS and FEMA to immediately release withheld disaster relief funding, restore critical hurricane-related contracts, reverse workforce reductions, and fill all vacant leadership positions.
Occurrences
Kennedy and his colleagues warn that the policy upends decades of established law and threatens to destabilize communities across the country.
Thompson, Kennedy Write DHS on Lack of FEMA Readiness Ahead of Hurricane Season
Thompson and Kennedy called on DHS and FEMA to immediately release withheld disaster relief funding, restore critical hurricane-related contracts, reverse workforce reductions, and fill all vacant leadership positions.
Evidence
The letter details how the Trump administration has systematically hollowed out FEMA's workforce, with more than 5,000 employees departing since January 2025 and nearly half of the agency's top 38 leadership positions currently vacant. Thompson and Kennedy also raised urgent concerns about the Trump administration’s unprecedented politicization of the disaster declaration process. Thompson and Kennedy called on DHS and FEMA to immediately release withheld disaster relief funding, restore critical hurricane-related contracts, reverse workforce reductions, and fill all vacant leadership positions.
Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) leader Robert Fenton urging immediate action to address FEMA's alarming lack of readiness ahead of the 2026 hurricane season. The letter says the administration has hollowed out FEMA's workforce and that nearly half of the agency's top 38 leadership positions are vacant. Thompson and Kennedy called on DHS and FEMA to immediately release withheld disaster relief funding, restore critical hurricane-related contracts, reverse workforce reductions, and fill all vacant leadership positions.
FEMA's leadership page lists David Richardson as Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator, Andrew D’Amora as Acting Regional Administrator for Region 2, and other acting or vacant leadership roles, indicating continued leadership churn/vacancies in FEMA's structure.
FEMA explains that the Disaster Relief Fund covers eligible disaster response and recovery efforts and that, when the fund is projected to be insufficient, FEMA may prioritize lifesaving and life-sustaining activities while pausing new obligations not necessary for those activities. The page also lists monthly DRF reports and notes the status of Immediate Needs Funding guidance.
Assessments
The evidence shows Kennedy took the promised oversight action: he co-signed and publicized a May 2026 letter urging DHS and FEMA to release withheld disaster relief funding, restore hurricane-related contracts, reverse workforce reductions, and fill vacant leadership posts. That is a concrete and serious effort matching the claim. However, the record provided does not show DHS or FEMA actually carried out those requested changes. Additional evidence suggests leadership vacancies and related problems were still ongoing, which cuts against finding delivery. Because the promise was to urge the agencies to act and he did so, but the requested outcomes themselves are not shown as achieved, the best judgment is unresolved with credit for effort in the same term.