The Trump administration is reversing the reinstatement of employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) who were placed on administrative leave after writing an open letter of dissent.
FEMA in August suspended 14 employees who signed a petition warning that cuts to the agency were putting the country at risk of repeating the mistakes made during the poor response to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
Last Wednesday, those 14 employees received notice that they were being reinstated earlier this week. But within hours, after CNN reported the employees were returning to work, Trump officials suspended the staff again.
“When they went in at 8:30 a.m., the employees’ email accounts were restored and they were given new access cards,” said David Seid, an attorney with the nonprofit group Government Accountability Project, which helped FEMA employees file complaints challenging their suspensions. “But around noon … they stopped working and then after that, they started getting notices: ‘You’re on administrative leave again.'”
Jeremy Edwards, a former deputy for public affairs at FEMA who signed the August petition, said the reversal “reflects the kind of dysfunction and incompetence that has plagued FEMA under this administration”.
“Not only has there been no legal justification provided for placing these employees on administrative leave, but they are also being paid full-time, taxpayer-funded salaries to sit at home and do nothing when all they want to do is do their jobs,” Edwards said.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, confirmed the reversal. “CNN’s reporting revealed that 14 FEMA employees were previously placed on leave for misconduct, but bureaucrats acting outside their authority reinstated them improperly and without authorization,” a department spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added, “Once alerted, the unauthorized reinstatement was immediately corrected by senior leadership. The 14 employees who signed the Katrina declaration have been placed back on administrative leave.” “This Administration will not tolerate rogue conduct, unauthorized actions, or bureaucrats who resist change. Federal employees are expected to follow lawful direction, maintain agency standards, and serve the American people.”
Seid called the reversal “incredible” and “terrible”.
“I’ve never seen it happen like this in government operations, and I’ve been around for 40 years,” Seid said.
He said that the suspension of the employees was illegal, which is a violation of the security of government employees and especially informers.
“You can’t retaliate against people just because they signed a petition,” he said.
FEMA’s decision to reinstate the employees seemed to reinforce that argument. “Although (the investigative report) has confirmed the employee’s involvement with the so-called Katrina announcement, FEMA’s legal counsel has advised that the employee’s actions are protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act (5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(8)) and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” the FEMA email to 14 employees said.
“Political appointees turned it around,” Seid said.
Called the Katrina Declaration, the workers’ August petition criticized sweeping changes to FEMA by the Trump administration and expressed a desire to shift responsibility for disaster response and preparedness to the states. Sent just days before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it was signed by more than 180 current and former FEMA employees, some of whom remained anonymous.
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A day after the message was sent, the 14 employees who used their names were informed they were being placed on indefinite leave, Seid said. One of those 14 employees was fired in mid-November, he said, but he successfully challenged his dismissal.
FEMA staff coordinated the petition with Stand Up for Science, a nonprofit protesting the Trump administration’s attacks on federally funded science research. The group also helped organize a separate June letter from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) workers, which accused the Trump administration of violating the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment. After receiving that petition, EPA furloughed 139 employees, then fired seven of them.
Before heading back, Seid’s group celebrated FEMA’s decision to reinstate 14 furloughed employees, and said it could help make the case for similarly reinstating EPA workers.
“It would appear that appropriate decisions were made and should be followed,” Seid said. “But now I think the message is exactly the opposite.”
The Trump administration has fired, suspended and laid off thousands of federal employees since reentering the White House in January. FEMA in particular has been the subject of scrutiny, with the President even planning to dismantle the agency entirely.
A review council formed by Trump is expected to soon issue recommended changes to the agency.
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