# Katrina Declaration The **Katrina Declaration** was a letter sent to Congress on August 25, 2025, ahead of the twentieth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, by more than 180 current and former employees of [[FEMA]]. It warned that the agency's ranks were being hollowed out and that its ability to respond to disasters was at risk, and it objected to a new rule requiring Homeland Security Secretary [[Kristi Noem]] to approve personally any FEMA spending over $100,000. Its signers described the problems as gross waste and mismanagement, abuse of authority and a danger to public health and safety. The next day the Department of Homeland Security put the employees who had signed by name on leave, ordered them to stop all work and not to contact anyone at FEMA or DHS, and opened internal investigations into them. The signers filed whistleblower-retaliation complaints with the Office of Special Counsel, represented by the [[Government Accountability Project]], Lawyers for Good Government and Stand Up for Science. They stayed on leave for about eight months. On April 29 and 30, 2026, after [[Markwayne Mullin]] replaced Noem at DHS and the $100,000 sign-off rule was scrapped, at least 14 suspended employees were cleared to return to work, following pressure from lawmakers including Senator [[Andy Kim]]. "It's been eight long months," said their lawyer David Seide. > [!note] Stub > This is a short entry that hasn't been fully written yet. ## See also - [[Federal Whistleblower Roster]] - [[FEMA]] · [[Hurricane Katrina]] - [[Criminalizing Whistleblowers]]