1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand that the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill you are currently negotiating includes full funding for FEMA, NOAA, and all disaster response agencies, along with provisions requiring ICE and CBP to respect constitutional rights. The Trump administration's gutting of these agencies has already cost American lives. FEMA lost approximately one-third of its full-time staff through firings, retirements, and resignations. The agency entered hurricane season without a plan and has cycled through three acting administrators in less than a year, none approved by Congress or with substantial emergency experience. Hundreds of millions of dollars in national preparedness funding were cut in 2025. NOAA suffered catastrophic damage, losing thousands of staff including hurricane hunters, researchers, and meteorologists. By September, one in seven National Weather Service workers had left, totaling roughly 27,000 years of collective experience lost. In spring 2025, roughly a quarter of NWS forecast offices lacked chief meteorologists. Several offices ceased overnight monitoring due to staff shortages, and weather balloon launches were vastly reduced, undermining forecast accuracy. These cuts have deadly consequences. Gutted weather-balloon networks in Alaska failed to adequately warn residents before one of the most destructive storms in state history. After the Guadalupe River flooded a Texas summer camp and nearby communities in July, it took more than 72 hours to authorize deployment of federal search-and-rescue teams. More than 135 people died. Nine NOAA stations tracking tsunami-causing earthquakes went offline at the end of November after funding was pulled. The first half of 2025 saw more than $101 billion in damage from weather and climate disasters, the most costly first half of any year on record dating back to 1980, according to Dr. Adam Smith of Climate Central. Despite this, critical grant programs including Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities and Hazard Mitigation Assistance remain suspended. I expect you to restore full funding for FEMA and NOAA, fill all vacant positions, reinstate climate monitoring programs including the nine tsunami warning stations, and resume all suspended grant programs. Americans deserve agencies capable of protecting their lives and property.