FEMA’s chaotic summer went out of bad to worse

FEMA did not answer the wired comment request.

“It is not surprisingly that some of the same bureaucrats presided on for decades of inefficiency now complained the reforms” Agency told the guardwho reported revenge against employees who signed the letter. “Change is always difficult. It is especially for those invested in the status quo, which forgotten that their duty was an American people who have not been invested bureaucracy.”

Targeting the signatory letter in FEMA resonates the earlier move in the Environmental Protection Agency in July, when this agency suspended About 140 employees signed on a similar public letter.

Employees in FEMA who signed this week letter expressed concern to wink that the Agency may try to seek those who did not involve their names on the letter – especially considering how DHS As reported, given polygraph In April, he was trying to identify employees who leaked into the press. “I’m worried they can use similar tactics to identify anonymous signals,” they say. This employee spoke on wired in the state of anonymity, because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

On Tuesday morning, the day after the publication of the letter about employees, the former acting of FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton announced criticism of the Agency Javno on LinkedIn.

“Stating that @ peema for more efficient, and the cutting of the red strip is either: uninformed on disaster management; misled by public officials; or lying to the American public (SIC) to submit talk points” wrote. “President Trump and the American people deserve better than this … FEMA saves money that is good due to the astronomical female debt to completely new forms of bureaucracy that extended time of glowing time and disposal of sensitive times.

Hamilton, who was dismissed from his position the day after evidence in May in the Defense of the Agency to Congress, did not respond to wired questions about whether his post was associated with the open letter of employees.

Both Hamilton’s post and open letter call a new rule, launched in June, to which any consumption over $ 100,000 is needed to be in person NOEM. This cap, FEMA employees listed in a letter on Monday, “reduces the authorities and abilities of FEMA to deliver our mission quickly.” Politics came under fire in July after diverse stores It reports that it caused the agreement of the Agency’s response after the flood in Texas who killed at least 135 people. The head of the urban search agency and rescue operations resigned at the end of July, partly due to frustrations as disastrous assistance procedure, CNN delayed assistance export.

The shots of the contracts of contracts on contracts show that the Agency 7 still had more than $ 700 million to be awarded in non-disasters before the end of fiscal year 30. September, with more than 1,000 working actions of open contracts. The Agency seems to feel the pressure to speed up the contractual proposals. At the beginning of August, several FEMA staff were asked to volunteer to assist over the weekend to re-examine the contract to prepare them for Noem’s checkout, according to the e-mail that was revived wired. (“A lot of work during the weekend,” read notes from one date.)

“Money catastrophe only sit”, “One employee of Fema speaks wired.” Every day the applicant asks his FEMA contact “Where is my money?” We are ordered not to say anything and redirect. “

How employee open letter, roughly One-third of FEMA full-time staff He was already leaving by May, “which led to the loss of irreplaceable institutional knowledge and long-term relations.” These staff departures can further interfere with the efforts of the financial efficiency measure of measures such as contract reviews. Former FEMA employees speak that Although the Agency started the year with nine lawsuit in the review of financial contracts during the disaster, almost the entire team remained or has been assigned, leaving the darling that the hurricane season increases.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” the former employee speaks wired, when the hurricane hit “and we need a contract lawyer on the shift of 24/7.”