Federal Disaster Experts Are Missing Key Meetings because of Trump Travel Restrictions
FEMA and NOAA officials are being forced to skip major hurricane and flood conferences ahead of disaster season because of Trump administration restrictions on travel for federal employees
An aerial view shows floodwaters surrounding a rural home on April 06, 2025 near Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Thunderstorms, heavy rains, high winds and tornadoes have plagued the regions for the past several days causing widespread damage.
CLIMATEWIRE | When the National Hurricane Conference begins on Monday in New Orleans, one thing will be missing: federal hurricane experts.
Agencies such as NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have for decades sent officials to speak at hurricane and flood conferences, where they can connect with local officials, researchers and businesses.
But President Donald Trump’s travel restriction on federal employees has prevented most agency officials from attending disaster conferences this year and sharing their expertise with thousands of people.
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“It’s so unfortunate that our federal partners are not able to attend,” said Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, which is holding an international flood conference in May.
Federal experts are largely skipping major conferences this spring on flooding, hurricanes and other disasters.
The four-day National Hurricane Conference, run by a nonprofit, has just one federal speaker scheduled, FEMA acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton.
Last year, the conference featured 10 FEMA experts who gave presentations on hurricane evacuation, childrens’ needs during a hurricane and search-and-rescue operations. Conference officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Organizers of this year’s Governor’s Hurricane Conference in mid-May recently told attendees by email that they were canceling scheduled panels “due to travel restrictions affecting our instructors from FEMA, the National Weather Service and other federal agencies.”
The email, obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News, lists 13 training sessions and workshops that were canceled for the six-day conference in Florida. They included presentations on hurricane evacuation, tropical meteorology and lessons from previous hurricanes.
“Part of the draw is that people did take those [National] Weather Service-taught classes,” said Jonathan Lord, president of the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association and the emergency manager in Flagler County, Florida. “Historically, people have gone because it is a unique place to hear directly from some of those forecasters, some of those scientists.”
The Governor’s Hurricane Conference is run by a nonprofit and is not affiliated with any governor.
Trump’s travel restriction is a little-noticed part of an executive order issued in February that aimed to cut federal spending, mostly through contracts. The order also restricts federal employees from “federally funded travel for conferences or other nonessential purposes.”
Officials with FEMA and NOAA did not respond to requests for comment.
FEMA has typically had a large presence at the floodplain association’s annual conference, which Berginnis, the executive director, called the largest flood conference in the world. More than 2,000 people attended the 2024 event in Salt Lake City.
Experts from FEMA gave 38 presentations on topics such as reducing flood risk and damage, communicating flood risk and navigating agency disaster programs. Officials from NOAA and other federal agencies gave 16 presentations on flooding, according to the conference agenda.
The association’s five-day conference that starts May 18 in New Orleans has six federal presentations scheduled — three by the Army Corps of Engineers, two by NOAA and one by the U.S. Geological Survey.
No one from FEMA is on the agenda. Consulting firms are handling the type of presentations that FEMA gave in 2024.
“Our conference has definitely been impacted,” Berginnis said of Trump’s travel restrictions. “The conferences are places not only to exchange ideas but to understand emerging and new technologies, and to interface with people … working to reduce flooding.”
FEMA had a scaled-down presence at an annual conference in March by the National Emergency Management Association. Hamilton, the acting administrator, was the only agency speaker.
It’s not clear if FEMA was affected by the travel restrictions because the conference was held in downtown Washington, a mile-and-a-half from FEMA headquarters.
“Federal attendance numbers were lower than normal at the NEMA Mid-Year Forum, but FEMA senior leadership did participate in several key discussions with state emergency management directors,” the association said in an email. “A strong partnership between states and FEMA is essential to building and maintaining a strong, capable, and efficient national emergency management system.”
Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.
