The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has reportedly suspended a number of staff who criticized the agency's direction under US President Donald Trump.
The staff are said to have been among those who recently signed an open letter that castigated Trump officials over cuts and alleged interference, warning that another national catastrophe akin to Hurricane Katrina was possible.
More than 20 employees were told on Tuesday that they had been put on administrative leave, according to sources who spoke to the BBC's US partner, CBS News.
Asked by the BBC for a comment, a FEMA spokesperson said the agency's obligation was to survivors of disasters, not to protecting broken systems.
The spokesperson also called it not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform. Change is always hard...especially for those invested in the status quo who have forgotten that their duty is to the American people not entrenched bureaucracy.
Scrutiny over US disaster readiness has intensified following recent deadly flooding in Texas, prompted largely by Trump's actions during his administration.
Trump had proposed overhauling the disaster-management agency, even suggesting the possibility of getting rid of FEMA altogether, labeling it as inefficient.
Reports indicate that hundreds of employees—approximately a third of FEMA's workforce—have left their positions in recent months for various reasons.
The open letter, which reflects on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, cites the need for competent American disaster-management leadership and criticizes the Trump administration for budget cuts affecting the agency and perceived censorship of climate science.
As the North Atlantic hurricane season continues, expectations rise for FEMA's involvement, especially amidst claims that warmer sea temperatures, influenced by climate change, may lead to busier operations this year.
