By Tuesday evening, some of the workers who signed the letter had been dismissed from the agency. The letter, signed by 180 current and former FEMA employees, contends that the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the agency and limit its resources could lead to another disaster similar to Hurricane Katrina. The natural disaster which devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast resulted in Congress passing legislation that included the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act. In June, President Donald Trump said he wanted to "phase out" FEMA and shift the responsibility of emergency response to states. The backstory:The Federal Emergency Management Agency, widely known as FEMA, was created in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter to help states manage disasters.