Homeland Security Secretary Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem quietly axed dozens of key workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in a round of emails sent out on New Year’s Eve.
Around 50 staff members from the Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE) team—who play a vital role in preparing for and responding to natural disasters—received an email on Dec. 31 informing them their “services will no longer be needed” and their contracts will expire in early January, according to CNN.
The move is believed to be part of a broader effort by the Department of Homeland Security to lay off thousands of disaster relief workers at FEMA under the Trump administration’s federal cost-cutting plans, an approach that has already raised fears it could cost lives.
Noem, who has called for FEMA to be “eliminated,” faced calls to resign over her handling of the agency in the wake of deadly flooding in Texas last summer. She was heavily criticized for implementing a policy requiring her review and sign off on all DHS contracts and grants over $100,000. The added layer of bureaucracy was blamed for delaying the approval of vital federal aid in July 2025 for flood-ravaged parts of Texas where around 135 people died. Several Democratic lawmakers demanded an investigation into her actions at the time, accusing her of turning FEMA into a “PR agency.”
The decision to cut the CORE workers is believed to have been approved by new FEMA chief Karen Evans, dubbed “The Terminator,” whose appointment by Noem in November was widely seen as a step toward dismantling the agency, CNN reported.
One worker who learned Wednesday that their contract would not be renewed in a matter of days told the network that it was “beyond cruel to be treated in such a way.”
A former senior FEMA official said the loss of dozens of CORE workers would be a huge blow to disaster response efforts, as they are typically among the first on the ground assisting local officials in the aftermath of natural disasters like hurricanes or flooding.
“FEMA can’t do disaster response and recovery without CORE employees,” the former official said. “The regional offices are almost entirely CORE staff, so the first FEMA people who are usually onsite won’t be there. The impact is that states are on their own.”
Multiple sources told CNN that DHS is considering allowing more contracts to expire in order to gut FEMA, with several thousand CORE workers expected to see their contracts lapse sometime in 2026.
CORE workers typically serve on two-to four-year contracts that are almost always renewed. However, in 2025, DHS under President Donald Trump changed policy so that FEMA would renew CORE contracts for only 180 days while plans to shrink the agency were being considered.
A DHS spokesperson denied that the recent terminations were tied to the policy change and did not address broader plans to downsize FEMA or the abrupt layoffs.
“The CORE program consists of term-limited positions that are designed to fluctuate based on disaster activity, operational need, and available funding,” the spokesperson told CNN. “CORE appointments have always been subject to end-of-term decisions consistent with that structure, and there has been no change to policy.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
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