The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has placed at least 30 employees on administrative leave following their concerns regarding budget cuts, staff reductions, and leadership vacancies that impair the agency’s disaster response capabilities. Notifications were sent out via email on Tuesday evening, as reported by The New York Times, which verified the content of these communications. FEMA has yet to respond to Technology News‘s request for confirmation of these suspensions or to address the claims made in a recent letter.
Following the recent deadly flooding incident on July 4th in Kerrville, Texas, an internal letter claimed that “leadership who not only question the agency’s existence but place uninformed cost-cutting above serving the American people and the communities our oath compels us to serve” obstructed FEMA’s critical mission to provide assistance.
This action by FEMA is not unprecedented, as previous instances of the Trump administration have involved similarly reprimanding federal employees for expressing concerns regarding their agencies’ ability to fulfill their roles. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed 144 workers on administrative leave after they sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin indicating that “EPA under your leadership will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water, but instead will increase risks to public health and safety.”
