Congressman’s last town hall in Mesa postponed; ‘Back to Session’ telephone town will continue as planned on Sept. 2
MESA, Ariz., — Today, U.S. Congressman Greg Stanton D-Ariz., is returning to Washington to confront what he called a, “dangerous attack on public safety and free speech,” following the Trump administration’s suspension of numerous Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees — including some working on flood recovery in Texas — who published an open letter warning the administration’s own policies at FEMA are putting lives at risk.
Stanton’s office also announced they will be rescheduling the Congressman’s last town hall of August as a result. The event, originally scheduled for Wednesday night in Mesa, will be rescheduled to a new date and time in September. Stanton’s “Back to Session” telephone town hall will continue as planned for Sept. 2 at 5:30 p.m. Details on both are available at stanton.house.gov/events.
Our top priority is and should always be the safety and security of the American people. This administration is gambling with our ability to respond to a disaster — in the middle of hurricane season no less,” said Stanton, the lead House Democrat overseeing FEMA in Congress. “While the White House deploys these Putin-like tactics to silence FEMA’s own experts, frontline workers, and first responders, they won’t silence me. I’m flying back to Washington to expose these attacks on public safety and free speech, to hold this administration accountable, and to help lead this fight in Congress.”
Monday's open letter to Congress — known as the "Katrina Declaration" — is signed by 191 current and former FEMA employees and warns that the administration’s cuts to recovery, mitigation, training, and community programs combined with Acting Administrator David Richardson’s lack of experience are weakening FEMA’s ability to protect American families. They cautioned the agency is being pushed back toward the dysfunction that failed Americans during Hurricane Katrina.
“Katrina wasn’t just a storm — it was an embarrassing and horrific failure of government that cost thousands of lives. We told ourselves it would never happen again, and yet here we are, staring down the possibility of another horrific Katrina-like response because of leadership at FEMA that is inexperienced, incompetent, and indifferent, ” said Stanton. “FEMA isn’t perfect, but the answer isn’t to dismantle it — it’s to put experienced leadership and constructive policies in place that make it work better for people during times of crisis. That’s why I’ve introduced a bipartisan bill with Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen to strengthen FEMA. And we’re going to redouble our efforts to get it passed when Congress comes back next week.”
The bipartisan bill, The FEMA Act, streamlines the federal government’s disaster response and recovery programs while also making FEMA a cabinet-level agency once again that is directly accountable to the president. The bill also rewards effective state and local preparedness, protects taxpayers, cuts red tape, and ensures that relief efforts are fast, fair, and free from political bias.
Stanton, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, has direct oversight responsibility of our nation’s management of emergencies and natural disasters, including FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security’s other disaster management responsibilities.
At a July 2025 oversight hearing, Stanton confronted David Richardson, the acting head of FEMA, over his inexperience, incompetence, and indifference leading the nation’s emergency response. Stanton said Richardson’s response to the Texas floods violated the law, ignoring his responsibility under the Stafford Act to serve as the nation’s principal disaster adviser — not defer to the Homeland Security Secretary — and to anticipate states’ needs before disasters strike. FEMA, under Richardson’s leadership, did not have resources on the ground until days after the last survivor was pulled from the devastation, calling FEMA’s response a “model” for “how disasters should be handled” while blaming any shortcomings on state officials in Texas.
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Recommended Video: Rep. Greg Stanton Grills Trump's FEMA Administrator Over Response to Texas Flooding – July 25, 2025
Stanton Wraps Up Busy August
Congressman Greg Stanton’s office hosted or attended more than 40 public events, town halls, and meetings during the annual month-long district work period — including a two-hour town hall in Ahwatukee just last week. Over the course of August, Stanton took questions at town halls and forums for retirees, veterans, educators, and small business owners. He convened a bipartisan community leaders’ breakfast in Mesa and an LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs conversation in Phoenix. He met with business owners in Ahwatukee, heard directly from veterans and their advocates in Mesa, and traveled to Scottsdale to meet with members of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Stanton’s office added that he also participated in bipartisan Q&A sessions with the League of Cities and Towns and the Arizona Realtors Association. Additionally, Stanton visited with faculty at Arizona State University in Tempe to discuss biomedical advancements and the importance of federal research funding, toured the University of Arizona’s downtown Phoenix campus, and took questions from students at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe.
Stanton also held numerous meetings with constituents and advocacy groups as well, adding that the variety of events and formats ensures every community has a voice in his work in Washington. Residents looking to attend future events can get news, alerts, and information by signing up for Stanton’s newsletter at stanton.house.gov. They can also call the Congressman’s new constituent services hotline 1-833-643-6114, which is fully staffed 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every weekday.