The Trump administration has ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to suspend the deployment of hundreds of aid workers to disaster-torn areas around the US while the Department of Homeland Security is shut down, according to sources and internal messages obtained.
The new edict comes even though most deployments are paid for through a Disaster Relief Fund that isn’t affected by the shutdown.
One internal message to FEMA leaders on Tuesday said DHS, which oversees the agency, has “directed FEMA to stop all travel.” The order took effect Wednesday.

Any travel to areas still recovering from severe storms will now require sign-off from leaders at DHS, which oversees FEMA.

More than 300 FEMA disaster responders were preparing for upcoming assignments but told to stand down, including some who are currently at a training facility, according to the agency messages.

FEMA staffers already working on major recovery efforts — like the one that’s still happening in southern states hit by Hurricane Helene two years ago — will stay in the field and can’t return home unless their assignment is ending, according to the messages. For now, no new personnel can join or relieve them without explicit approval from DHS.

“If we can’t get people to Florida or North Carolina to help validate damages from Helene, we can’t approve funding for those projects,” one FEMA official, who asked not to be identified, told CNN. “If we can’t staff a Disaster Recovery Center in Washington State or Alaska, how can people get help with their assistance applications?”

DHS issued a statement attributed to a FEMA spokesperson saying the restrictions on travel are “not a choice but are necessary to comply with federal law.” The statement says, “FEMA travel related to active disasters is not cancelled.”

“While some non-essential activities will be paused or scaled back, FEMA remains committed to supporting communities and responding to incidents like Hurricane Helene,” the statement says.