Some employees at the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been put on leave after they signed an open letter of dissent against the agency’s leadership, according to the nonprofit that published the letter.
The employees were placed on administrative leave on Tuesday after they signed an open letter a day earlier – on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina – expressing outrage over budget cuts, personnel decisions and other reforms enacted under President Donald Trump, which they say could recreate conditions that led to the widely criticised FEMA response to the 2005 hurricane.
“We can confirm multiple FEMA employees who publicly signed the Katrina Declaration have been placed on administrative leave,” nonprofit group Stand Up for Science said in a statement on Tuesday.
The development is likely to fuel concerns that US President Donald Trump’s administration does not tolerate dissent. In July, the US Environmental Protection Agency placed 139 employees on administrative leave after they signed a letter expressing criticism of Trump’s policies.
The Stand Up for Science website said the letter had more than 190 signatories as of Tuesday evening, the majority signing anonymously due to fears of retaliation.
“Around 30” employees were suspended, The New York Times reported on Tuesday evening, citing their review of emails.
“Once again, we are seeing the federal government retaliate against our civil servants for whistleblowing – which is both illegal and a deep betrayal of the most dedicated among us,” Stand Up for Science said.
FEMA employee Virginia Case told CNN she received an emailed notice on Tuesday evening that she’d been placed on paid leave from her job as a supervisory management and programme analyst.
“I’m disappointed but not surprised,” Case said, according to the US outlet.
“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.”
The Washington Post reported that the suspended employees will still continue to receive pay and benefits.
FEMA’s press secretary said on Monday the agency has been bogged down by red tape and inefficiencies, and the Trump administration “has made accountability and reform a priority”.
However, since his return to the White House in January, Trump has stated that he wants to abolish FEMA and let states “take care of their own problems”.
Roughly 2,000 FEMA employees, or a third of its workforce, have left the agency this year through firings, buyouts or early retirements.
Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic flooding in New Orleans, killing more than 1,800 people. It was one of the worst natural disasters in US history, in part because of the ineffective response to it. Congress passed the Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act in 2006 to give FEMA more responsibility.
The letter warned the Trump administration was undoing those reforms.
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