FEMA suspends employees who signed letter blasting Trump-era changes, sources say

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday suspended more than 20 employees who signed an open letter arguing the Trump administration had undone years of post-Hurricane Katrina progress at the disaster relief agency, multiple sources told CBS News.

Monday's open letter to Congress — known as the "Katrina Declaration" — said it was signed by 191 current and former FEMA employees. Some 35 attached their names, while the rest said they withheld them over fear of retaliation.

Some of the current FEMA employees who used their names received emails on Tuesday night saying they had been placed on paid administrative leave "effective immediately, and continuing until further notice," according to copies of the emails reviewed by CBS News.

"While on administrative leave, you will be in a non-duty status while continuing to receive pay and benefits," the letter read. The staffers were told not to visit FEMA facilities, access the department's telecommunication systems or carry out any of their official duties, aside from responding to inquiries from the Department of Homeland Security.

The agency also told staff that they must remain available to work during business hours.

The emails did not provide a reason for the decision. Staffers were told the move "is not a disciplinary action and is not intended to be punitive."

CBS News has reached out to DHS and FEMA for comment.

The Washington Post was first to report on the suspensions.

The "Katrina Declaration" was published as the United States marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which was one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. The 2005 hurricane prompted major changes to the nation's disaster relief system — and Monday's letter argued many of those reforms could be reversed by the Trump administration.

The letter accuses President Trump of picking unqualified people to lead FEMA, and criticizes the administration for cutting the agency's workforce and terminating grants meant to help state and local governments harden their infrastructure to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.

The declaration said it hopes changes are made in time to "prevent not only another national catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, but the effective dissolution of FEMA itself and the abandonment of the American people such an event would represent."

The Trump administration has pushed for sweeping changes to FEMA. Earlier this year, Mr. Trump suggested either "getting rid of FEMA" or "fundamentally reforming" the agency by pushing some of its duties to state governments. So far this year, the agency has lost roughly one-third of its staff through a combination of firings and voluntary departures.

FEMA acting press secretary Daniel Llargues responded to the letter Monday by defending the Trump administration's record of handling natural disasters and arguing FEMA was previously "bogged down by red tape, inefficiency, and outdated processes."

"The Trump Administration has made accountability and reform a priority so that taxpayer dollars actually reach the people and communities they are meant to help," Llargues said. "It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform. Change is always hard. It is especially for those invested in the status quo. But our obligation is to survivors, not to protecting broken systems."

Joe Walsh contributed to this report.