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Donald Trump, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, DC, in 2017<\/span>Jacquelyn Martin\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Several employees at<\/span> the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been placed on administrative leave just a day after signing a public letter<\/a> accusing the Trump administration of politically motivated firings and \u201cuninformed cost-cutting,\u201d multiple<\/a> media<\/a> outlets<\/a> reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n As I wrote yesterday: <\/p>\n In an\u00a0urgent letter\u00a0to Congress on Monday, more than 180 current and former workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wrote to \u201csound the alarm\u201d about the Trump administration\u2019s handling of the agency and cuts to FEMA\u2019s funding. The moves, they argue, have obstructed officials\u2019 ability to respond to and protect the public from natural disasters.<\/p>\n The employees called out the Trump administration\u2019s pursuit of job terminations, promotion of unqualified leadership, and censorship of climate science. Current working conditions, the letter states, \u201cecho\u201d the federal failures after Hurricane Katrina struck almost exactly 20 years ago\u2014including \u201cthe inexperience of senior leaders\u201d and \u201cthe profound failure by the federal government to deliver timely, unified, and effective aid.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While most signers of the so-called \u201cKatrina Declaration\u201d are anonymous, more than 30 current and former federal workers used their real names. As CNN noted<\/a>, it\u2019s unclear how many had left the agency before signing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m disappointed but not surprised,\u201d Virginia Case, a FEMA staffer reportedly placed on leave on Tuesday, told<\/a> CNN. \u201cI\u2019m also proud of those of us who stood up, regardless of what it might mean for our jobs. The public deserves to know what\u2019s happening, because lives and communities will suffer if this continues.\u201d<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s declaration, as I previously reported<\/a>, isn\u2019t the first letter from federal workers warning about the administration\u2019s policies\u2014nor is it the first case of retribution:<\/p>\n The [letter] follows similar letters from Trump administration workers at the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>\u00a0(CDC),\u00a0Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>\u00a0(EPA),\u00a0National Aeronautics and Space Administration<\/a>\u00a0(NASA),\u00a0National Institutes of Health<\/a>\u00a0(NIH), and\u00a0National Science Foundation\u00a0<\/a>(NSF). Some of the letters have led to retaliation. As\u00a0Inside Climate News<\/em>\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0in July, Trump officials put nearly all EPA employees who\u2019d signed a letter of dissent on leave.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Reached for comment yesterday, FEMA Acting Press Secretary Daniel Llargu\u00e9s\u00a0told Mother Jones<\/em><\/a> in a statement, \u201cFor too long, FEMA was bogged down by red tape, inefficiency, and outdated processes that failed to get disaster dollars into survivors\u2019 hands,\u201d adding, \u201cIt is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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