At least that's the conclusion I reach as I watch the ongoing trouble at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"The Trump administration placed more than 30 Federal Emergency Management Agency employees on leave Tuesday after they signed an open letter of dissent about the agency's leadership, according to people familiar with the situation and documents reviewed by the Washington Post.
About 180 current and former FEMA staffers sent a letter on Monday to members of Congress and other officials, arguing the current leaders' inexperience and approach harm FEMA's mission and could result in a disaster on the level of Hurricane Katrina. About three dozen people had signed their names the majority of signatories were anonymous."
Pretty much the same thing happened to nearly 140 employees at the federal Environmental Protection Agency when they sent their dissent letter. Employees at the National Institutes of Health also released a dissent letter.
It's more than a little disconcerting that so many government experts are expressing such distrust of the Trump regime, but there you go.
The FEMA dissent letter included concern over the lack of a Senate-confirmed and qualified emergency manager to lead FEMA; cuts to mitigation, disaster recovery, training and community programs, and new policies the limit employee autonomy, as the Washington Post reports.
The letter also asked Congress to protect FEMA from interference from the Department of Homeland Security and protect the employees from "politically motivated firings."
A lot of good that did, huh?
Trump FEMA had their typical response to the FEMA situation. "It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who president over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform....Our obligation is to survivors, not to protecting broken systems," a FEMA spokesperson sniffed.
The leave notices given to employees stated there are "not a disciplinary action and is not intended to be punitive."
Riiiiggght.
It's the peak of hurricane season. So far, we've been lucky. No full-blown hurricane has crashed onto United States shores so far this year. Hurricanes are arguably the worst mega-disasters we can experience in the U.S., and the most challenging to prepare, endure and respond to.
Just think about what Hurricane Helene did last year if you want an example.
It could also be just a matter of time before one of the many wildfires burning in the western U.S. get really out of control and crashes its way into a heavily populated area.
I'm not convinced FEMA is up to the task under the current leadership.
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