The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday placed several employees on immediate administrative leave, just a day after they signed an open letter to Congress warning that President Donald Trump administration’s sweeping overhaul of the agency could trigger catastrophic failures in disaster response.
The letter, titled “Katrina Declaration,” directly accuses President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, of weakening the agency’s capabilities, disregarding its congressionally mandated authority, and appointing leaders who lack the necessary qualifications.
It urges lawmakers to shield FEMA from political interference and to protect its workforce from politically motivated dismissals.
More than 180 current and former FEMA staffers signed the declaration, though most did so anonymously.
Only 36 attached their names publicly, with uncertainty surrounding how many were still actively employed when the document was published.
One of the public signatories, Virginia Case, a supervisory management and program analyst, told CNN that she was notified Tuesday evening that she had been placed on paid leave.
“I’m disappointed but not surprised,” Case said, noting she knew of at least six other FEMA staff who received similar notices. “I’m also proud of those of us who stood up, regardless of what it might mean for our jobs. The public deserves to know what’s happening, because lives and communities will suffer if this continues.”
According to an internal email reviewed by CNN, workers placed on leave “will conduct no business, visit no FEMA/DHS facility and contact no FEMA/DHS personnel.”
In addition, affected employees were instructed to provide their personal email addresses, as access to their official FEMA/DHS accounts had been revoked.
Defending the decision, a FEMA spokesperson said, “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. It is especially for those invested in the status quo, who have forgotten that their duty is to the American people not entrenched bureaucracy. Our obligation is to survivors, not to protecting broken systems. Under the leadership of Secretary Noem, FEMA will return to its mission of assisting Americans at their most vulnerable.”
The “Katrina Declaration” argues that hard-won reforms implemented after the botched response to Hurricane Katrina are now being dismantled, as the Trump administration pushes to either abolish or drastically scale down FEMA’s responsibilities.
This latest controversy mirrors actions taken earlier in the summer, when roughly 140 Environmental Protection Agency employees were suspended just days after signing a public letter voicing concerns over federal worker treatment and the administration’s climate and public health policies.