Reports that the Trump administration placed some employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on leave after they signed an open letter of dissent earlier this week has sparked criticism on social media.

More than 180 current and former FEMA employees signed the letter sent to the FEMA Review Council and Congress on Monday, critiquing recent cuts to agency staff and programs and warning that FEMA's capacity to respond to a major disaster was dangerously diminished. Only 36 signed their names, while others withheld their names for fear of retribution.

The Washington Post first reported that by Tuesday evening, some of those employees had received letters informing them that they were being placed on paid administrative leave, effective immediately. About 30 employees were told they were being placed on leave, according to The New York Times.

Stand Up for Science, the advocacy group that helped publicize the letter, told Newsweek that "many" of the FEMA employees who publicly signed the letter have been placed on administrative leave, including some who were responding to July's deadly floods in Texas.

Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.

The letter raised concerns about FEMA's ability to respond to disasters, which can mean life or death during such emergencies.

While the administration has said its decision to place some FEMA employees on leave was not meant as a punishment, the action has raised concerns over whistleblower protections. When employees face consequences for speaking out, it may prevent others from doing so in the future and erode public trust in leadership.

According to the Associated Press, it has confirmed that at least two of the signatories received notices on Tuesday evening informing them that they would be placed on indefinite leave. The notice said the decision was "not a disciplinary action and is not intended to be punitive."

In a statement to Newsweek, Stand Up for Science said the government was retaliating against the employees "for whistleblowing—which is both illegal and a deep betrayal of the most dedicated among us."

On social media, some also called it an act of retaliation.

Podcast host Brian Allen said, "Whistleblowers are being purged for trying to protect disaster response."

Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch, commended those who "had the courage to sign their names to it knowing the consequences of a highly vindictive Trump."

In their letter, sent ahead of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the current and former FEMA employees listed six "statements of opposition" to current policies at FEMA, including an expenditure approval policy by which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem must approve contracts exceeding $100,000. The signatories said the policy reduces FEMA's ability to perform its mission.

The letter also critiqued the DHS's decision to reassign some FEMA employees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the failure to appoint a qualified FEMA administrator as required by law, and cuts to mitigation programs, preparedness training and FEMA's workforce.

The signatories wrote that they hoped their warnings would "come in time to prevent not only another national catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, but the effective dissolution of FEMA itself and the abandonment of the American people such an event would represent."

Stand Up for Science said in a statement to Newsweek: "This situation is developing, but this decision underscores the many issues these public servants described in their declaration and their bravery in standing up for Americans in need.

"Once again, we are seeing the federal government retaliate against our civil servants for whistleblowing—which is both illegal and a deep betrayal of the most dedicated among us. DHS said that these employees are simply 'afraid of change' which is an insult to anyone working at FEMA, the agency directly responsive to rapidly intensifying and changing circumstances. Stand Up for Science is proud to have hosted their Katrina Declaration and we stand by the FEMA 36."

Podcast host Brian Allen wrote on X: "This isn't governance. It's retaliation. Whistleblowers are being purged for trying to protect disaster response."

Richard Hanania, the president of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, wrote on X: "36 FEMA employees put their names to a letter to Congress saying we were underprepared for future emergencies. In response, the Trump administration did what any responsible government would do. It put them on paid leave."

FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargues told the Associated Press on Monday that the Trump administration had "made accountability and reform a priority so that taxpayer dollars actually reach the people and communities they are meant to help."

He added: "It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform. Change is always hard."

Employees at other agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency, have issued similar statements against the Trump administration's policies. Last month, about 140 employees at the EPA who signed an opposition letter were placed on administrative leave.

It remains to be seen what other actions could come as a result of the FEMA employees' letter.

This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.

Update 8/27/25, 5:15 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with information and a statement from Stand Up for Science.