FEMA employees were abruptly placed on administrative leave on Tuesday, just 24 hours after signing an explosive open letter warning that the agency is being dragged back to its pre-Katrina state of dysfunction.
The letter, signed by 191 current and former FEMA staffers, was sent to Congress and top officials on Monday. It bluntly criticized the current leadership, describing the agency as inexperienced, politically driven, and dismantling vital programs that help protect Americans during disasters.
The employees who signed the letter warned that if the current trajectory continues, the agency could face a catastrophe. By Tuesday evening, FEMA’s administrator’s office had responded with suspension letters, putting the employees on “non-duty status” but assuring them that their pay and benefits would remain intact. Essentially, they were benched for speaking out.
The letter also mentioned decisions made by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem as contributing factors to FEMA’s potential failure in managing disaster responses. FEMA confirmed that several employees were placed on immediate leave, but the exact number remains unclear. Of the nearly 200 signatories, only around 36 revealed their names publicly, according to CNN.
A FEMA spokesperson responded to the criticism, stating, “It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform. Change is always hard, especially for those invested in the status quo, who have forgotten that their duty is to the American people, not entrenched bureaucracy.”
The spokesperson added, “Our obligation is to survivors, not to protect broken systems. Under the leadership of Secretary Noem, FEMA will return to its mission of assisting Americans at their most vulnerable.”
The letter from FEMA employees pointed out that the Trump administration is rolling back key protections put in place after the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster. Following that tragedy, Congress passed the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (PKEMRA), which included safeguards to ensure a better response in future crises.
The employees are calling for Congress to intervene, demanding protections for FEMA from further interference by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and safeguards against politically motivated firings.
Noem has already faced criticism, particularly in July, over the slow response to flooding in Texas, where about 135 people lost their lives. A new rule requiring her personal sign-off on contracts over $100,000 delayed the deployment of an Urban Search and Rescue team by at least three days.
At least two of the FEMA staffers placed on leave were involved in the Texas flood response, according to The Washington Post.
Jeremy Edwards, a former FEMA press secretary who signed the “FEMA Katrina Declaration,” commented on the gravity of the situation, saying, “They are that scared of us being so inadequately unprepared. It speaks a lot to the situation right now.”
In another similar move, the Trump administration also placed around 140 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees on leave in July after they signed a letter protesting the agency’s management and treatment of federal workers.