Overview

• At least more than 20 and as many as roughly 30–36 FEMA staff who publicly signed the letter were put on paid administrative leave, according to multiple outlets and advocacy group Stand Up for Science.
• Emails reviewed by reporters told affected staff the move was effective immediately, non‑duty with pay and benefits, and barred access to FEMA facilities and systems.
• The open letter, signed by about 191 current and former employees with roughly three dozen named, warned that staffing cuts, leadership changes, and policy shifts risk a Katrina‑level failure.
• Signatories cited a requirement for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to approve FEMA expenditures over $100,000, which reporting links to delays during July’s deadly Texas floods.
• FEMA defended the action and broader changes as necessary reform, while the advocacy group and signers called the suspensions retaliation against protected dissent.