Federal agencies across the United States are experiencing unprecedented turmoil as thousands of workers sound the alarm over what they describe as politically motivated efforts to dismantle essential government functions. From the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), employees are taking extraordinary risks to warn Congress and the public about the direction their agencies are heading under the Trump administration.
In July 2025, the tension reached a boiling point at the EPA when 139 workers were placed on administrative leave after signing a letter to agency head Lee Zeldin and Congress, decrying what they saw as the undermining of the agency’s mission. According to Labor Notes, some of these workers have since been fired, and others remain under investigation. The letter, which drew national attention, accused the administration of “recklessly undermining the EPA mission” and “directly contradicting EPA’s own scientific assessments on human health risks, most notably regarding asbestos, mercury, and greenhouse gases.” The EPA is currently facing a staggering 54 percent budget cut, threatening its ability to fulfill its mandate.
The unrest is not confined to the EPA. Thousands of federal workers across six agencies—including FEMA, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)—have signed open letters charging that their workplaces are being hamstrung or dismantled by political appointees and cost-cutting directives. These letters, made public in a wave of coordinated action, reflect deep concern about the future of public health, safety, and environmental protection.
The situation at FEMA is particularly dire. On August 25, 2025, 155 FEMA employees wrote to Congress, stating, “FEMA’s mission to provide critical support was obstructed by leadership who not only question the agency’s existence but place uninformed cost-cutting above serving the American people.” The agency has seen a third of its staff either fired or resign so far this year. The letter, titled the Katrina Declaration, accused President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of undermining FEMA’s authority, ignoring congressional mandates, and appointing unqualified leaders. The signatories called for protecting FEMA from political interference and shielding its workforce from politically motivated dismissals.
According to CNN, the administration responded to this open dissent by launching an internal investigation into the FEMA employees who signed the letter. At least ten were placed on paid administrative leave in August, and those suspended were required to sign nondisclosure agreements and submit to interviews with investigators—sometimes within just 24 hours, even if they requested time to consult legal counsel. The investigation is not classified as criminal but is intended to determine the motivations behind the public criticism. More than 180 current and former FEMA employees joined the letter, with 36 signatures made public and the rest remaining anonymous.
Legal experts and whistleblower advocacy organizations have condemned the administration’s tactics. David Seide, Senior Counsel at the Government Accountability Project, told CNN, “This is intimidation and patently violates the whistleblower laws. (These workers) filed a petition and were put on administrative leave immediately. That’s retaliation. Now they’re being investigated, and that’s retaliation too.” Amy Powell, litigation director for Lawyers for Good Government, echoed these concerns, stating, “We sincerely hope that FEMA is instead investigating the mismanagement of disaster preparedness described by the Katrina Declaration and the retaliation against whistleblowers.”
The pressure on whistleblowers is not unique to FEMA. In July 2025, more than 100 EPA employees faced similar reprisals after signing a letter critical of the administration’s policies. The parallels between the two cases have not gone unnoticed by lawmakers. Four Democratic members of Congress sent a letter in September 2025 to Secretary Noem and acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson, urging an investigation into what they described as “unlawful repression” of FEMA staff and demanding their immediate reinstatement. “The actions your offices have taken will have a chilling effect on any public servant who wishes to respectfully disagree or offer alternative views of the government, even if they are supported by evidence,” the lawmakers wrote. “You must abide by the law and immediately return these workers to their usual status.”
The Department of Health and Human Services has also come under fire. Over a thousand HHS workers wrote to Congress on September 3, 2025, demanding the resignation of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., accusing him of “compromising the health of this nation.” The letter followed Kennedy’s unexplained rescinding of the Covid-19 vaccine authorization and his firing of CDC director Susan Monarez. On August 28, federal guards removed three additional top CDC officials from their Atlanta offices, further escalating tensions within the agency. National Nurses United, the largest nurses’ union in the U.S., accused Kennedy of maligning federal health workers, stripping HHS employees of collective bargaining rights, and spreading misinformation about vaccines.
Meanwhile, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) issued a stark warning about the Trump administration’s reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, calling it “a direct and catastrophic threat to our nation’s food supply.” The union, which represents 800,000 government workers, argued that the reorganization was designed to drive out experienced staff, with many unwilling to relocate for lower pay in unfamiliar locations. AFGE President Everett Kelley wrote to Congress that these moves threaten both food safety and the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers.
NASA, too, has become a flashpoint. In July 2025, hundreds of NASA workers signed a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, warning that management actions “waste public resources, compromise human safety, weaken national security, and undermine the core NASA mission.” They specifically decried plans to destroy two climate satellites vital for tracking carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, arguing that such basic research “cannot and will not be taken up by the private sector.”
Underlying all these disputes is a broader debate about the rights of federal workers to organize and speak out. The Trump administration has claimed that federal workers can no longer have unions due to national security concerns. This claim has only intensified fears among agency staff that their ability to raise alarms about public health, safety, and the environment is being systematically eroded.
“Not everybody loses their power and their voice at once, it goes step by step,” observed Joseph Allen, a member of the Treasury Employees Chapter 66 at the IRS in Kansas City. “Everybody’s got to stand in solidarity now.” Allen and others argue that union efforts are vital to preserving the independence and effectiveness of federal agencies: “If they take away the power from the unions, they're going to take away power from management, they're going to take away the agencies. This is to save what we have of our republic.”
As the investigations continue and the political battles rage, the fate of these agencies—and the public they serve—hangs in the balance. The outcome will shape not only the future of federal employment but also the nation’s capacity to respond to disasters, protect public health, and safeguard the environment.
