FEMA’s Chaotic Summer Has Gone From Bad to Worse

FEMA did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

“It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform,” the agency told the Guardian, which reported on the retaliation against the employees who signed the letter. “Change is always hard. It is especially for those invested in the status quo, who have forgotten that their duty is to the American people not entrenched bureaucracy.”

The targeting of letter signers at FEMA echoes an earlier move at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in July, when that agency suspended about 140 employees who signed onto a similar public letter.

A FEMA employee who signed this week’s letter expressed concern to WIRED that the agency may try to seek out those who did not include their names on the letter—especially given how DHS reportedly administered polygraphs in April attempting to identify employees who leaked to the press. “I’m concerned they may use similar tactics to identify anonymous signers,” they say. This employee spoke to WIRED on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press.

On Tuesday morning, a day after the employees’ letter was published, former FEMA acting administrator Cameron Hamilton posted a criticism of the agency publicly on LinkedIn.

“Stating that @fema is operating more efficiently, and cutting red tape is either: uninformed about managing disasters; misled by public officials; or lying to the American the public [sic] to prop up talking points,” he wrote. “President Trump and the American people deserve better than this…FEMA is saving money which is good due to the astronomical U.S. Debt from Congress. Despite this, FEMA staff are responding to entirely new forms of bureaucracy now that is lengthening wait times for claim recipients, and delaying the deployment of time sensitive resources.”

Hamilton, who was fired from his position a day after testifying in defense of the agency to Congress in May, did not respond to WIRED’s questions about whether or not his post was related to the employees’ open letter.

Both Hamilton’s post and the open letter call out a new rule, instituted in June, mandating that any spending over $100,000 needs to be personally vetted by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. That cap, FEMA employees allege in Monday’s letter, “reduces FEMA’s authorities and capabilities to swiftly deliver our mission.” The policy came under fire in July after various outlets reported that it had caused a delay in the agency’s response following the flooding in Texas that killed at least 135 people. The agency’s chief of urban search and rescue operations resigned in late July due in part to frustrations with how the DHS spending approval process delayed aid during the disaster, CNN reported.

Screenshots of contract data seen by WIRED show that as of August 7, the agency still had more than $700 million left to allocate in non-disaster spending before the end of the fiscal year on September 30, with more than 1,000 open contract actions. The agency seems to be feeling the pressure to speed up contract proposals. In early August, several FEMA staff were asked to volunteer to work over a weekend to help review contracts to prepare them for Noem’s signoff, according to emails reviewed by WIRED. (“Lots of work over the weekend,” read the notes from one meeting.)

“Disaster money is just sitting,” one FEMA employee tells WIRED. “Every single day applicants are asking their FEMA contact ‘where’s my money?’ And we are ordered to just say nothing and redirect.”

As the employees’ open letter states, roughly a third of FEMA’s full-time staff had already departed by May, “leading to the loss of irreplaceable institutional knowledge and long-built relationships.” These staff departures may further hamper efforts from the agency to implement financial efficiency measures like the contract reviews. A former FEMA employee tells WIRED that while the agency began the year with nine lawyers on the procurement team that helps review financial contracts during a disaster, almost the entire team has either left or been reassigned, leaving a dearth of experience just as hurricane season ramps up.

“I have no idea what happens,” the former employee tells WIRED, when a hurricane hits “and we need a contract attorney on shift 24/7.”