Trump has been critical of FEMA in recent years and has even suggested that the agency be eliminated. He was also delayed in approving federal disaster aid for states that were slammed by tornadoes late last month, leaving local and state officials begging for assistance.

Trump has said FEMA should be shrunk or even eliminated, arguing states can take on many of its functions, as part of a wider downsizing of the federal government. About 2,000 full-time FEMA staff, one-third of its total, have been terminated or voluntarily left the agency since the start of the Trump administration in January.