Politicians in Hurricane-battered Houston were less than enthused Thursday evening after news broke of the Trump administration's plan to cut the vast majority of staff at a federal office tasked with disaster recovery.

First reported on by the New York Times, U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to fire as many as 84% of the workers employed by The Office of Community Planning and Development, which falls under the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The office provides funding for recovery efforts in the wake of natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Beryl and Harvey.

U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, who represents portions of southwest Houston, described the move as a "disaster in itself," on social media. 

"Disaster recovery is complex and requires many working collaboratively to ensure federal funding is spent efficiently, effectively, and ethically," She said in a post made to X. "In communities like ours dealing with repeated natural disasters, we know that cutting this program will be a disaster in itself."

The Office of Community Planning and Development oversaw the disbursement of more than a combined $1 billion in federal funding to help Harris County and Houston rebuild after Hurricane Harvey devastated the city in 2017, according to the Kinder Institute for Urban Research's resilience and recovery tracker. 

The office was also responsible for providing more than $3 million to help house individuals displaced by Hurricane Beryl, according to an August 2024 news release published by HUD.

Fletcher's criticism was echoed by Rep. Sylvia Garcia, who represents an area that covers a large swath of northeast Houston. 

"Donald Trump is slashing disaster response staff, leaving communities defenseless when catastrophe strikes," Garcia said in a post made on X. "Last year, Texas was hit by major storms— the federal government helped us rebuild. Now, Trump wants to gut the very resources that save lives. Disasters aren’t stopping, but he’s making sure we’re unprepared."

Although he did not address the cuts made to the Office of Community Planning and Development, HUD Secretary and former Texas Rep. Scott Turner said in a post on X that his office was "just getting started." 

"In just one week our DOGE Taskforce has uncovered $1.9 billion in “misplaced” funds and started trimming the fat on $260 million in wasteful contracts … and we’re just getting started," Turner said.

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