Roughly 20 employees with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been placed on leave after attaching their names to a letter accusing the Trump administration of gutting the agency's workforce. Nicole Sganga has more.

Washington

Approximately 20 employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were placed on leave after they signed a letter criticizing workforce reductions under the Trump administration. The letter, endorsed by three dozen current and former FEMA staff and anonymously backed by nearly 150 more, warned that recent changes have undermined the agency’s ability to respond effectively to disasters.

Following the letter’s release, the staffers were instructed not to report to work and lost access to agency communications. The letter highlighted concerns over the loss of experienced personnel, with about one-third of full-time staff having left or been terminated since January. A FEMA spokesperson stated that the agency’s priority remains serving disaster survivors.

FEMA staffers placed on leave after criticizing Trump cuts in letter

This week marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast. A group of workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, warns that the agency is not ready for another catastrophic storm. Roughly 20 FEMA employees have been placed on leave just one day after attaching their names to a letter accusing the Trump administration of gutting FEMA's workforce. Nicole Skanga has the details. The letter was signed by three dozen current and former FEMA employees and backed anonymously by nearly 150 more. It warned changes under this administration have created cascading effects that reduce FEMA's ability to carry out its mission. Within hours of the letter becoming public, the current FEMA staffers were told not to report to work on Wednesday, and access to their phones and email was cut off. President Trump has threatened to eliminate FEMA, and roughly one-third of full-time staff has left or been fired since January. I do have to say FEMA is a big disappointment. We had it working well, we had great people, but FEMA is not good anymore. Craig Fugate led FEMA under President Obama and sat down with us earlier this hurricane season. Do you think this administration is moving too quickly to downsize FEMA? My biggest concern is the lack of experienced folks that have left in the recent year, and this reminds me of 2005, Hurricane Katrina. Do you worry that FEMA is being set up to fail? Yes, I don't worry, and they are. The problem with that is the people on the other end are going to suffer needlessly. One of the FEMA workers who signed that letter told me earlier today that he is terrified of permanently losing his job, but he felt that it was a risk he was willing to take in order to sound the alarm. In a statement, a FEMA spokesperson told CBS News, our obligation is to survivors, not to protecting broken systems.

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