‘People Will Die’: Suspended FEMA Employees Say Their Agency Isn’t Delivering

Abby McIlraith returned to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hyattsville, Maryland, office on the first day of December for the first time in more than three months. Her suspension for signing a public letter criticizing agency leadership was over, and she was looking forward to finally putting it behind her.

The day went largely as anticipated. Her co-workers warmly welcomed her back throughout the day. CNN even reported that the employees had been reinstated. But it took a “shocking” turn around 4 p.m. when she received an email saying that she had once again been placed on administrative leave.

“I didn’t tell a whole lot of people because it’s kind of a weird thing,” McIlraith, an emergency management specialist for the agency, told NOTUS. “But [there were] some painful goodbyes, and some people who had already left for the day, and I already said, ‘See you tomorrow.’”

FEMA has been scrutinized over its disaster response under its tumultuous leadership over the course of the year — as recently as last week, a highly anticipated meeting about the future of the agency was canceled unexpectedly at the last moment.

Within the agency, morale has plummeted. This reversal over whether to reinstate the employees who signed the letter has extended one of the highest-profile clashes in the ongoing fight between the Trump administration and government workers worried about the direction their agency is taking — and the toll it could take not just on them but on the public.

McIlraith was one of more than a dozen current and former employees at the agency who were first placed on administrative leave in August for signing their name to a letter warning that the lack of experience in the agency’s current leadership could lead to a disaster response similar to Hurricane Katrina.

McIlraith said she thought the suspensions were “politically motivated,” and said that they’re “designed” to scare whistleblowers.

“[The Department of Homeland Security] ignored FEMA’s investigative process, which had already decided to reinstate us based on its own independent findings,” McIlraith added. “[The people FEMA serves] deserve a FEMA that is well funded, prepared, resourceful and ready to assist them when they need it. So until that happens, I don’t think we’re done fighting.”

The Department of Homeland Security responded to a request for comment from NOTUS with a statement it had sent another outlet when the employees were put back on leave.

“CNN reporting revealed that 14 FEMA employees previously placed on leave for misconduct were wrongly and without authorization reinstated by bureaucrats acting outside of their authority,” a department spokesperson said in a statement used on Dec. 1. “Once alerted, the unauthorized reinstatement was swiftly corrected by senior leadership. The 14 employees who signed the Katrina declaration have been returned to administrative leave.”

“This Administration will not tolerate rogue conduct, unauthorized actions, or entrenched bureaucrats resisting change,” the spokesperson continued. “Federal employees are expected to follow lawful direction, uphold agency standards, and serve the American people.”

McIlraith, however, wasn’t the only one who was more worried about the agency’s work over their career.

Declan Crowe, another FEMA emergency management specialist who was placed on leave over signing the letter, told NOTUS that he received an email from the agency on Nov. 25 telling him that he should return to work the next day.

Crowe worked the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and said he learned he was suspended again while on travel to visit family on Monday, Dec. 1.

“It felt like whiplash to all of a sudden be put back on leave,” Crowe said, but he added that he’s more concerned about those relying on the agency’s service.

“Applicants and anybody who uses FEMA services are going to be severely impacted,” Crowe said. “Personally, for me, I don’t know what will happen. But I’m more concerned about the fact that the agency is failing the American public, and that people will die if the agency does not fulfill what it has to do.”

Former employees believe the suspensions could have lasting consequences as far as the agency’s ability to recruit talent, especially to positions that are a matter of life and death.

“Employees being treated in that way creates a toxic environment where there is going to be mistrust,” Michael Coen, former FEMA chief of staff during the Biden administration, told NOTUS. “I think there’s a chilling effect on employees, maybe being willing to come forward to highlight waste, fraud and abuse or anything that they may be concerned about as an employee.”

“Until there’s some kind of relief … I think this continues to create a toxic environment across these federal departments and agencies,” he added.

James Stroud, a statistician who works at FEMA headquarters who was part of the temporarily reinstated group of suspended employees, told NOTUS he had tech issues when he returned to the office, and his security badge had to be reactivated at the start of his shift. But after his badge stopped working midway through the day, he said he started to feel something “weird” was occurring.

Stroud then got an email at the end of his shift on Dec. 1 saying that he had been placed back on leave. Stroud, who said he loves his job at FEMA, said it’s difficult being a public servant in this political climate.

“It’s tough, it’s really difficult because a lot of people who chose these jobs signed up to help people,” he said. “And we’re seeing policies being enacted that are working against the people we signed up to help and are just trying to enrich a very select few in society.”

In the broader context of FEMA, these employees getting put on leave has been a storyline playing out in the background. The arguments over the agency’s role in disaster recovery, and what it should look like, have been much more public.

President Donald Trump’s FEMA Review Council is debating what changes are needed to improve the agency. And in the last several months, Republican lawmakers have grown frustrated with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, including because of her rule to review and approve expenses over $100,000, which has created a bottleneck at the agency.

There’s also been a churn in leadership; the agency has had three leaders in the last eight months. David Richardson, who resigned last month, was replaced with the agency’s chief of staff, Karen Evans.

In order to help fix the issues at the agency, Crowe said he would urge citizens to support the FEMA Act, which would make FEMA independent of the Department of Homeland Security.

“Getting FEMA out of DHS and making it a Cabinet-level agency would allow it to operate independently of DHS and would allow it to fulfill its statutory requirements,” Crowe said. “So, I sincerely encourage people to call their senators and representatives and encourage them to support the FEMA Act and to pass that through Congress.”