{"id":7815,"date":"2025-08-27T06:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T06:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=7815"},"modified":"2025-08-27T06:37:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T06:37:00","slug":"we-should-write-a-really-stern-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=7815","title":{"rendered":"We Should Write a Really Stern Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/div>\n

By KIM BELLARD<\/p>\n

On the heels of the disastrous floods in Texas, days away from the Hurricane Katrina twenty year anniversary, and with Hurricane Erin almost becoming another Hurricane Sandy<\/a>, the dedicated employees at FEMA are worried. Very worried. They\u2019ve got a President who repeatedly has called<\/a> to dismantle the agency, a DHS Secretary who is more interested in photo ops<\/a> and slow walking expenditure requests<\/a>, and an acting administrator who has no experience in emergency management<\/a>. Oh, and they\u2019ve suffered losses of about a third of their workforce<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n

So some of the more outspoken employees have written a letter.\u00a0 That should do the trick.<\/p>\n

The letter, which they call the FEMA Katrina Declaration<\/a>, was signed by almost two hundred current and past employees (although only three dozen allowed their names to be public). They charge:<\/p>\n

Since January 2025, FEMA has been under the leadership of individuals lacking legal qualifications, Senate approval, and the demonstrated background required of a FEMA Administrator. Decisions made by FEMA\u2019s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator (SOPDA) David Richardson, Former SOPDA Cameron Hamilton, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem erode the capacity of FEMA and our State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) partners, hinder the swift execution of our mission, and dismiss experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management.<\/p>\n

The letter goes on to list \u201cSix Statements of Opposition,\u201d calling to reverse various actions the Administration has taken that they believe impairs FEMA\u2019s ability to fulfill its mission. Each seems perfectly reasonable, and none seems likely to result in action, at least unless\/until disasters strike enough red states to force action.<\/p>\n

FEMA spokesperson Daniel Llargues was not impressed, responding: \u201cIt is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform. Change is always hard. It is especially for those invested in the status quo. But our obligation is to survivors, not to protecting broken systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

I probably wouldn\u2019t have paid much attention to the letter, except it comes two months after some 90 NIH scientists issued their \u201cBethesda Declaration<\/a>\u201d to protest what has been happening to the NIH so far in the Trump Administration. Addressed to Director Jay Bhattacharya, it declared:<\/p>\n

For staff across the National Institutes of Health (NIH), we dissent to Administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe. Keeping NIH at the forefront of biomedical research requires our stalwart commitment to continuous improvement. But the life-and-death nature of our work demands that changes be thoughtful and vetted. We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum<\/a> over human safety<\/a> and faithful stewardship of public resources<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Declaration lists five categories of cuts the Administration has taken, about which they warn: \u201cCombined, these actions have resulted in an unprecedented reduction in NIH spending<\/a> that does no<\/em><\/strong>t reflect efficiency but rather a dramatic reduction in life-saving research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amen to that.<\/p>\n

Director Bhattacharya was somewhat more respectful than Mr. Llargues in his response, claiming: \u201cThe Bethesda Declaration has some fundamental misconceptions about the policy directions the NIH has taken in recent months, including the continuing support of the NIH for international collaboration. Nevertheless, respectful dissent in science is productive. We all want the NIH to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe him. This Administration does not recognize any dissent as \u201crespectful.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m pleased to note that it isn\u2019t just employees at FEMA and NIH who are protesting Administration actions that they believe jeopardize their mission. Staffers at other agencies including the\u00a0Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>,\u00a0NASA<\/a>, and the\u00a0National Science Foundation<\/a>\u00a0have published similar letters.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The EPA letter, for example, flat out said: \u201cUnder your leadership, Administrator Zeldin, this administration is recklessly undermining the EPA mission,\u201d going on to list five specific examples, and warning: \u201cYour decisions and actions will reverberate for generations to come. EPA under your leadership will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water, but instead will increase risks to public health and safety.\u201d Over 600 staffers signed \u2014 although all were anonymous.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Similarly, 149 NSF employees \u2013 almost all of whom remained anonymous \u2013 expressed their \u201cdeep concern over a series of politically motived and legally questionable actions by the Administration that threaten the integrity of the NSF and undermine the civil service protections guaranteed under federal law.\u201d The net result, they say, \u201ccollectively amount to the systemic dismantling of a world-renowned scientific agency\u201d and \u201cwould cripple American science.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, in response to the August 8th attack on CDC headquarters<\/a>, over 750 current and former CDC staffers issued a blistering response to Secretary Kennedy, saying: \u201cWhen a federal health agency is under attack, America\u2019s health is under attack. When the federal workforce is not safe, America is not safe,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>and accusing Secretary Kennedy of being \u201ccomplicit in dismantling America\u2019s public health infrastructure and endangering the nation\u2019s health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Note that hundreds of CDC employees were terminated the week after the shooting, and, to the best of my knowledge, President Trump has never spoken about the shooting. Secretary Kennedy issued what has been described<\/a> as a \u201ctepid\u201d response while managing to work in criticism of CDC\u2019s pandemic response. Class guy.<\/p>\n

Bravo to all the people at the various agencies who were willing to speak out. Call them bureaucrats, accuse them of being \u201cwoke,\u201d strip away the protections that they\u2019ve long relied on, and these brave public servants still want to speak out when they see their good work being crippled.<\/p>\n

But I have to point out that almost none dared list their identifies, worried about retribution by the Administration and potentially even worse by MAGA supporters. These are the times we\u2019re living in. And, of course, despite various legal actions, most of the Administration\u2019s actions roll on virtually unabated. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Letters, I fear, are not going to do it. This Administration doesn\u2019t care about letters. We all need to protest, but note that President Trump just issued an Executive Order<\/a> calling for the National Guard in each state to have specialized units for \u201c\u2026quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate.\u201d \u00a0That\u2019s you and me, folks. That\u2019s what they think of our First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

President Trump may deny being a dictator or even wanting to be a dictator, as he did today<\/a>, but if someone talks like a dictator and acts like a dictator, believe them. That\u2019s a dictator.<\/p>\n

So keep those letters and those lawsuits coming, but they\u2019re not going to be enough. A lot<\/em> of us have to speak up, stand up \u2013 and vote.<\/p>\n

Kim is a former emarketing exec at a major Blues plan, editor of the late & lamented\u00a0<\/em>Tincture.io<\/em><\/a>, and now regular THCB contributor<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By KIM BELLARD On the heels of the disastrous floods in Texas, days away from the Hurricane Katrina twenty year anniversary, and with Hurricane Erin almost becoming another Hurricane Sandy, the dedicated employees at FEMA are worried. Very worried. They\u2019ve got a President who repeatedly has called to dismantle the agency, a DHS Secretary who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}