FEMA opens investigation into employees who wrote Congress warning of leadership risks; orders non-disclosure agreements

On September 23, 2025, at least seven FEMA employees who had signed a collective letter to Congress — known internally as the Katrina Declaration — received formal investigative notices from the DHS Office of Professional Responsibility ordering them to sign non-disclosure agreements and schedule investigative interviews. The employees had already been placed on paid administrative leave in August 2025, shortly after the letter became public. The Katrina Declaration warned congressional overseers across four committees that political changes at FEMA were undermining the agency's core emergency management mission and endangered the public in the event of a major disaster.

Federal law explicitly protects employee communications to Congress from retaliation. The Whistleblower Protection Act bars agencies from taking adverse personnel actions — including investigations — against employees who disclose information to Congress that they reasonably believe reveals a substantial danger to public safety. Attorneys for the letter signers argued that the investigation and NDA orders were precisely the kind of retaliatory response the statute prohibits, characterizing them as an attempt to silence further disclosures under the guise of an administrative process.

Four Democratic members of Congress wrote directly to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson, holding them accountable for the retaliation and demanding reinstatement of the employees; attorneys also sought intervention from the Office of Special Counsel. Lawyers also raised concerns about the NDAs themselves: while the instruments nominally preserved existing whistleblower channels, they were structured to prohibit any future disclosure outside those channels, potentially chilling communication even about ongoing public-safety concerns. DHS did not publicly respond to those concerns.