Over 180 former and current employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a letter Monday, expressing concern that severe budget cuts to the agency, which is responsible for federal disaster response, could lead to a crisis akin to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“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,” states the letter.
The significance of the letter extends beyond its contents, highlighting a rarity as the Trump administration’s intense stance against criticism has often dissuaded federal employees from openly challenging the White House.
The release of this letter aligns with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which resulted in over 1,800 deaths and significant federal response failures, subsequently leading Congress to implement the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006.
The letter warns that poor management and eroded capacity at FEMA could undue progress made to improve the agency through that law.
“Two decades later, FEMA is enacting processes and leadership structures that echo the conditions PKEMRA was designed to prevent,” it states.
It comes amid uncertainty for FEMA
The letter is addressed to the FEMA Review Council, a 12-member panel comprised of elected officials, emergency managers, and others from primarily Republican states, appointed by President Donald Trump to propose reforms to FEMA, an agency he has frequently threatened to dismantle.
This development follows several months of instability within FEMA, with a third of its full-time staff either departing or being dismissed, including numerous senior personnel. The agency’s acting director, Cameron Hamilton, was fired in May and subsequently replaced by another acting director, David Richardson, both of whom lack previous emergency management experience.
FEMA’s response to the July Texas floods that killed at least 136 people came under criticism after reports that survivor calls to FEMA went unanswered and Urban Search and Rescue teams deployed late because of a policy by which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem must personally approve expenditures above $100,000.
The letter contains six “statements of opposition” to current policies at FEMA, including the expenditure approval policy, which the signatories say reduces FEMA’s ability to perform its missions.
It also critiques the DHS decision to reassign some FEMA employees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the failure to appoint a qualified FEMA administrator as stipulated by law, and cuts to mitigation programs, preparedness training and FEMA workforce.
Letter seeks to establish FEMA as a cabinet-level agency
The letter was also sent to multiple Congressional committees and calls on lawmakers to establish FEMA as a cabinet-level independent agency in the executive branch. The bipartisan Fixing Emergency Management for Americans, or FEMA Act, introduced in the House last month, proposes the same.
Thirty five signatories included their names. The 141 anonymous signatories “choose not to identify themselves due to the culture of fear and suppression cultivated by this administration,” according to the letter.
Employees at other agencies including the National Institutes of Health and Environmental Protection Agency have issued similar statements. About 140 EPA staff members at the were placed on administrative leave for signing an opposition letter.
The FEMA Review Council will meet for the third time this week on Thursday.
