As the first year of Donald Trump’s second term unfolds, it’s common to hear people ask whether there are still responsible people working within the president’s administration, who are willing to take a stand in support of Americans’ interests. Are all the honorable public servants gone?
The answer is no — and the evidence comes by way of “dissent” letters.
In recent months, against a backdrop of White House radicalism and authoritarian ambitions, officials at a growing number of departments and agencies have signed onto joint statements that condemn what they’ve seen behind the scenes. To date, these “dissent” letters have been issued by employees at agencies that include the National Institutes of Health, NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation.
This week, the list grew longer. The New York Times reported:
Employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrote to Congress on Monday warning that the Trump administration had reversed much of the progress made in disaster response and recovery since Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast two decades ago. The letter to Congress, titled the ‘Katrina Declaration,’ rebuked President Trump’s plan to drastically scale down FEMA and shift more responsibility for disaster response — and more costs — to the states.
The name of the document serves a couple of purposes: Not only was it issued around the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, but its signatories also warn that the Trump administration’s agenda and plans for the agency risk creating another Katrina-level disaster in the coming months and years.
“Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration,” the letter states.
An Associated Press report added, “The statement in it is noteworthy not only for its content but for its overall existence; a fierce approach toward critics by the Trump administration has caused many in the federal government to hesitate before locking heads with the White House.”
The developments hardly come out of nowhere. Indeed, it was just a month ago when Ken Pagurek, who led FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue branch, resigned in frustration, arguing that the agency’s slow and bureaucratic response to deadly flooding in central Texas was the last straw.
It’s worth emphasizing that throughout his second term, the president’s line on the future of FEMA hasn’t left his administration with a lot of wiggle room: As far as Trump was concerned, the agency’s days were numbered. “FEMA is getting in the way of everything,” the Republican argued earlier this year, failing to explain what that meant. Trump soon after said he saw the agency as an unnecessary department that should be “TERMINATED.” Around the same time, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose Cabinet department oversees the emergency response agency, added, “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.” Soon after, Cameron Hamilton, a Trump-appointed FEMA chief and a lifelong conservative Republican, was fired because he testified before Congress and told lawmakers that it would be in the public’s interest if FEMA continued to exist. Hamilton was replaced by David Richardson, who has no background in emergency management, and who, on his first day as the agency’s acting chief, told FEMA’s staff that he would “run right over” anyone who gets in his way. Recently, the White House started hedging a bit on its plans to shutter FEMA, opening the door to an agency that might be overhauled but not necessarily “terminated.” But even if Team Trump allows FEMA to exist, many of those with first-hand knowledge about how the agency works believe Team Trump is setting up FEMA to fail. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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