More than 180 current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency employees – most signing anonymously – sent a sharply worded letter to Congress on Monday, warning that the Trump administration’s sweeping overhaul is gutting the disaster relief agency’s authority and capabilities, undoing two decades of progress since the failures of Hurricane Katrina.

Titled “Katrina Declaration,” the letter accuses President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, of eroding the agency’s response capabilities and appointing unqualified leadership. The group calls for FEMA to be shielded from political interference and for its workforce to be protected from politically motivated firings.

The warning comes as the nation marks 20 years since Katrina de

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