FEMA Staffers Placed On Leave After Signing Open Letter To Congress Criticizing Trump’s Cuts

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) suspended a dozen staffers on Tuesday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency placed more than a dozen staffers on leave Tuesday after they signed an open letter to Congress criticizing the Trump administration’s budget cuts for the agency and warned that the move could cause another Hurricane Katrina-like disaster management failure. 

Key Facts

The open letter, titled “Katrina Declaration,” was signed by more than 180 FEMA staffers, of whom 35 attached their names and the remaining were anonymous.

According to Stand Up for Science, the nonprofit group that helped publicize the declaration, many of its signatories received letters from the agency informing them that they were being placed on administrative leave immediately.

The letter states suspended staffers will operate “in a non-duty status while continuing to receive pay and benefits.”

The letter did not specify a reason for the suspension, only noting that it was “not a disciplinary action” and urging the staffers to keep the matter “as confidential as possible.”

According to the Washington Post, which first reported the suspensions, at least two staffers placed on leave on Tuesday were involved in FEMA’s response to the deadly flooding in Texas last month.

The Post reported that one of the suspended staffers—who manages cases for multiple disasters—attached their name to the declaration, but it is unclear if the suspensions targeted all the named signatories.

Chief Critic

In a statement, Stand Up for Science said: “This is illegal, plain and simple. FEMA workers are doing their duty as public servants by blowing the whistle on the dismantling of their agency — and whistleblowing is protected under federal law. Donald Trump and Kristi Noem may be content with more Americans dying from natural disasters, but we're not. The courageous FEMA staff who wrote the Katrina Declaration will not be silenced.”

What Did The Katrina Declaration Say?

The open letter, titled “Katrina Declaration and Petition to Congress,” sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s efforts to significantly scale back FEMA’s operations and push the responsibility of disaster management to the states. The letter was sent earlier this week, just days before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina—one of the deadliest and costliest U.S. natural disasters in recent decades. The letter warned that FEMA’s “current trajectory” under Trump “reflects a clear departure” from the intent of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act passed by Congress in 2006. “Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration,” the letter said. The letter also criticized the Trump administration for failing to appoint a full-time FEMA chief, noting: “Hurricane season has begun, yet FEMA continues to lack an appointed Administrator with the mandated qualifications to fulfill this role.”

What Do We Know About The Trump Administration’s Handling Of Fema?

Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly attacked FEMA and questioned the agency’s usefulness in tackling natural disasters. A few days after taking office, the president said he wanted to have a “discussion” about FEMA’s future, adding that he would “rather see the states take care of their own problems.” Trump appointed, Cameron Hamilton, a prominent critic of FEMA’s handling of Hurricane Helene, as the agency’s acting head in January. However, Hamilton later broke with Trump and told Congress that FEMA’s job was critically important to communities and said its workforce was “tremendous and amazing, and they do a lot of great work.” Cameron was fired shortly after the Congressional hearing and was replaced with David Richardson, who worked with the DHS’s Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. Richardson made the news in June when he reportedly told staffers at the agency that he was unaware that the U.S. had a hurricane season. A spokesperson later claimed Richardson’s comment was made as a joke.

What Do We Know About The Fema Review Council?

Aside from all members and committees of Congress, the Katrina Declaration is also addressed to the “Members of Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council.” Trump has said he intends to either overhaul or shut down FEMA and has tasked the review council to conduct a “full-scale” assessment of its operations. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are the co-chairs of the review body, which also includes Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas.