Overview

• Internal emails reviewed by reporters show affected staff were placed on paid administrative leave, barred from facilities and systems, told to perform no official duties, and instructed to remain available during business hours.
• The open letter, signed by roughly 180 to 191 current and former employees with about three dozen naming themselves, warned Congress that recent moves risk a return to pre‑Katrina failures.
• FEMA defended the changes in a statement, calling the signatories entrenched bureaucrats and arguing reforms under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will better serve disaster survivors.
• Signatories criticized a policy requiring Noem’s personal approval for contracts, grants, and mission assignments over $100,000, saying it slowed operations, including response steps tied to July’s Texas floods.
• Coverage cited broader strain on the agency, including the loss of roughly one‑third of the workforce this year—about 2,000 employees—and plans to cut around $1 billion from grant programs as the administration explores shifting more responsibilities to states.