Overview

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem dismissed roughly 24 FEMA IT employees, including the chief information officer and chief information security officer, following what DHS called major security lapses.
• A DHS review reported that FEMA’s network was accessed by a threat actor, with officials alleging failures such as avoiding inspections, downplaying vulnerabilities, and not enforcing multi-factor authentication.
• DHS stated that no sensitive data was extracted and that no American citizens were directly impacted, though further technical details were not released.
• Separately, DHS is moving to cancel thousands of FEMA contracts after a Department of Government Efficiency review reportedly identified billions in waste, with examples including public campaign spending and service contracts flagged as duplicative or unnecessary.
• Tensions inside FEMA have intensified as more than 190 current and former employees signed a critical open letter, some named signers were placed on administrative leave, and staff warn that a hiring freeze and centralized spending approvals are slowing disaster response as peak hurricane season nears.