Officials criticize Trump government-and are suspended

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane “Katrina” meets the United States Gulf Coast. Two days later, entire cities, especially New Orleans, are in ruins – and more than 1800 people are dead. Experts are certain that this should not have been done – at least not to this extent. Warnings were ignored, preparations were not made.

For the week exactly 20 years later, 182 former and current employees of the US disaster protection authority Fema (Federal Emergency Management Agency) publish an open letter. In the “Katrina explanation”, as they call the petition addressed to the congress, they make serious accusations of the government management and thus the Trump government. A second “Katrina” is not only possible, but only a matter of time.

They saw themselves forced to warn the American population of the cascade -like effects of the decisions of the current government, “the letter said. Just as the authority is currently established, it is simply unable to master the next natural disaster.

The letter testifies to courage, the fear of revenge in the Trump 2.0 era is widespread. For good reason. One day after publication, the 36 FEMA employees who had signed the petition by name were suspended.

“Once again we see how the Federal Government takes on our officials due to whistleblowing’s retaliation – which is both illegal and a deep betrayal of the most committed among us,” explains Colette Delawalla, managing director of “Stand Up for Science” of the “New York Times”. The advocacy representative had published the open letter on its website.

The mail, which is available to the US newspaper, does not reveal exactly why the employees were sent “with immediate effect and until further notice”. It is “not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who have been responsible for inefficiency for decades are now fighting against reforms,” ​​the “Washington Post” quotes a spokesman for the Fema management.

The authority is “under the direction of people who lack the legal qualifications, the consent of the Senate and the proven experiences required for a Fema administrator,” the letter continues.

Among other things, the former marines David Richardson is meant. The new Fema boss had his employees: “I can’t get in the way!” Anyone who stands between him and the “will of the President” will roll over. More than a dozen high -ranking officials then threw.

A little later, Richardson made headlines when he supposedly stated that he had absolutely no idea during a meeting that there was something like a hurricane season in the USA. Afterwards, an agency spokesman was in a hurry that it was all just a joke.

The Fema is more in demand than ever. The authority’s task is to ensure that “America is prepared for preparation and the response to disasters”. The costs for the preparation and aftercare of extreme weather events have increased massively in recent years due to climate change. Natural disasters cost the US taxpayer around $ 460 billion in the three years between 2022 and 2024-more than twice as much as in the entire 1980s.

Donald Trump had already had the Fema on the Kieker during his first term. Sometimes he saw a billion dollar grave in her, sometimes he accused the management of paving against him with the Democrats. Of course, Trump did not stop this from using the Fema to abuse for political purposes. If a governor danced out of line, the president threatened to hold back federal funds in the case of disaster.

After returning to the White House, the Republican announced that it would massively shorten the already scarce budget of the authority – probably also out of revenge for its supposedly left -wing politicization. According to Trump’s idea, the FEMA will be abolished in its current form as quickly as possible and the states will take over disaster protection more themselves. Which state receives how much money from Washington could then become a individual decision – and thus the matter of the White House.

It is not the first time that the Trump government is doing critical civil servants.

As US media report, Minister of Homeland Protection Minister Kristi Noem recently ordered to subject employees to employees in order to find possible media spy. This is also why FEMA employees in the petition demand that their authority subject to the Ministry of Homeland Security. Co-chair of the Congress Committee, who could recommend that: Kristi Noem.

But even if they succeed: only last month, after more than 100 people died in violent floods in Texas, the Trump government suspended 144 employees of the actually independent environmental protection authority EPA, which had published a similar reminder letter. The EPA line even ordered an investigation to check whether the signatories typed the letter during their working hours and/or on government computers.