An open letter signed by at least 180 employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has landed the signatories in trouble. About 36 of them had put their names against the signatures while the rest had refrained from doing so fearing action.
The employees have been sent on leave for putting their signatures to the letter that openly criticised the US administration under President Donald Trump and opposed the move to curtail climate-change research among other things. The letter also spoke against the cuts to disaster-preparedness budgets.
Of the about 30 employees sent on paid leave, some were reportedly actively involved in the flood- relief work at Texas.
An advocacy group, Stand Up for Science called the suspension of the employees a retaliation and branded the decisions made by the leadership as ‘illegal’.
Trump has been calling the Agency inefficient and has been open about his keenness to shut FEMA. He has been advocating for the states to handle their affairs on their own.
With budget cuts imposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on FEMA, a third of the agency’s workforce has already left this year. Additionally, Kristi Noem, secretary, Homeland Security, had also imposed restrictions on expenditure and has faced criticism for doing so.