FEMA Reinstates Whistleblowers Suspended Under Noem

Federal disaster officials who sounded the alarm about their own agency are being called back in from the sidelines. At least 14 FEMA employees who were put on paid leave after publicly criticizing then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have been cleared to return to work, according to the department and one of the whistleblowers. The group was among those who signed the "Katrina Declaration" last August, warning that FEMA's ranks were being hollowed out and objecting to a policy that required Noem's personal signoff on any expenditure over $100,000, NBC News reports. Most of the more than 180 current and former FEMA staffers who signed the declaration remained anonymous, but 14 of those who gave their names were suspended, reports CNN.

Whistleblowers said that rule slowed emergency response, including deployment of urban search-and-rescue teams after last summer's deadly Hill Country floods in Texas. FEMA says that approval policy has now been scrapped under new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who replaced Noem last month.

• FEMA statistician James Stroud tells NBC that he received an unexpected email Wednesday saying he could return to work. Stroud, whose work involves estimating how many people will be impacted by disasters, showed up at FEMA headquarters at 8am on Thursday. "It seems random and it's really not clear what sparked this," he says. "And it's so wild that we have been paid to do nothing for eight months. This just seems like such an obvious thing that never should have happened."

• A FEMA spokesperson declined to discuss individual cases but said the agency is "addressing outstanding personnel actions" as it gears up for the 2026 hurricane season and the FIFA World Cup, emphasizing the need for a stable workforce and a ready "surge force" for major events and disasters.
• The reinstatements follow months of pressure from lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Andy Kim. He said in a statement that the workers "never should have faced retaliation for raising the alarm" and praised their willingness to speak up about internal problems that they argued were putting public safety at risk.
• Sources tell CNN that at least two senior FEMA officials who were suspended amid Noem's hunt for leakers have also been reinstated. The sources say the officials were abruptly put on leave without explanation after they were polygraphed more than a year ago.