Yet, this year, nearly 2000 staff have walked out the door of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). They left through a combination of firings, buyouts, and early retirements. This figure, by the way, is about one-third of FEMA’s entire workforce. FEMA employees are fed up. Frustration is mounting over budget cuts, personnel decisions and widespread reforms planned by President Donald Trump’s administration. In the process, departures from the agency are skyrocketing.
On Tuesday, administration officials placed a cohort of FEMA employees on administrative leave. This move came just a day after their signing of an open letter. This letter, which coincided with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, expressed concerns that the Trump administration was reversing crucial reforms related to FEMA’s operations.
Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in 2005, caused historic flooding in New Orleans and led to more than 1,800 deaths. The federal response to this disaster was widely criticized, and the letter’s signatories fear that similar failures may occur again if current policies continue unchallenged.
As reported by The New York Times, at least 30 FEMA employees were suspended as a result of the letter. The suspensions highlight the tensions roiling the agency since McAleenan’s appointment first flared and raise new, troubling questions about the Trump administration’s antipathy towards dissent. Even FEMA’s own acting administrator, Pete Gaynor, was not very pleased to see this development, saying, “I’m disappointed but not surprised.”
That alternative letter, openly criticizing the administration’s misguided policies for fueling the crisis belowground, has received impressive attention, with more than 190 signatories by Tuesday night. Most of them decided to stay anonymous out of concern for retaliation. The Stand Up for Science coalition worked hard to make this a reality. They take the position that federal employees should be protected to speak out without fear of retaliation.
“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
Virginia Case, one of the signatories, is adamant about the need for increased transparency around the agency’s functioning.
“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.” – Virginia Case
FEMA is by no means the only agency under the microscope. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency isn’t far behind, having recently placed 139 employees on administrative leave for signing an Employee Open Letter denouncing many of Trump’s policies. This pattern leads to serious concerns about the administration’s intolerance of dissent and the chilling effects this will have on the federal workforce.
