Employees expressed outrage over budget cuts, personnel decisions and other reforms enacted under President Donald Trump.
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.
