Some employees at the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Tuesday were put on leave after they signed an open letter of dissent against the agency’s leadership, the nonprofit group whose Web site published the letter said.
The development is likely to fuel concerns that US President Donald Trump’s administration does not tolerate dissent. Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency placed 139 employees on administrative leave after they signed a letter expressing criticism of Trump’s policies.
“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 an e-mailed statement.
Photo: AP
It did not specify how many employees were placed on administrative leave.
The Washington Post reported earlier that by Tuesday evening, FEMA’s office of the administrator had sent several letters to people informing them that effective immediately, they were on administrative leave, “in a non-duty status while continuing to receive pay and benefits.”
Dozens of current and former staff at the US agency that responds to natural disasters warned the US Congress in a letter on Monday that the inexperience of top appointees of the Trump administration could lead to a catastrophe on the level of Hurricane Katrina.
The Stand Up for Science Web site said the letter had more than 190 signatories as of Tuesday evening.
“Once again, we are seeing the federal government retaliate against our civil servants for whistle-blowing — which is both illegal and a deep betrayal of the most dedicated among us,” the group said.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment made outside regular working hours.
FEMA’s press secretary on Monday said the agency has been bogged down by red tape and inefficiencies, and the Trump administration “has made accountability and reform a priority.”
About 2,000 FEMA employees, or one-third of its workforce, have left the agency this year through firings, buyouts or early retirements. The Trump administration also plans to cut about US$1 billion in grant funding.
The protest letter was sent days before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which caused catastrophic flooding in New Orleans and devastating destruction along the Gulf Coast in August 2005, claiming the lives of 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.
Separately, US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s lawyer on said on Tuesday that she would sue the Trump administration to prevent him from firing her.
The announcement makes it more likely that a high-stakes legal battle would ensue that would probably end up at the US Supreme Court, and could redefine the limits of the president’s legal authority over the central bank.
Increasingly at issue is the Fed’s independence from day-to-day politics, which most economists consider a key factor in keeping long-term inflation and interest rates low.
“President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook,” said Abbe Lowell, Cook’s lawyer and a longtime Washington figure who has represented prominent people from both major political parties. “His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action.”
Trump underscored in remarks at the White House that his goal is to seize more power over the Fed to get it to lower interest rates.
He has previously said he would only appoint people to the Fed’s board who would support lower borrowing costs.
“We’ll have a majority very shortly, so that’ll be good,” Trump said, referring to the Fed’s governing board.
“Once we have a majority, housing will swing,” he added, blaming slow housing sales on high mortgage rates.
Additional reporting by AP
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