Noem fires two dozen FEMA employees over alleged cybersecurity gaps | CNN Politics

CNN reports on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's decision to fire 24 FEMA IT employees over alleged cybersecurity failures and data breaches.

Noem terminated the Federal Emergency Management Agency workers, including top IT leaders, following what DHS called a routine cybersecurity review that uncovered major network vulnerabilities. While officials say a "threat actor" breached FEMA's system, the intrusion was detected before sensitive data was extracted. The fired employees allegedly resisted security fixes, avoided inspections, and misled officials about cyber vulnerabilities, including failures to implement multi-factor authentication and address known security gaps.

• Noem accused the terminated workers of being "deep-state individuals" more focused on covering up failures than protecting homeland security
• FEMA officials described the ousted leaders as "extremely competent" and "highly respected," expressing shock at the sudden firings
• This follows previous February terminations where Noem fired four FEMA workers over migrant funding issues, though CNN's investigation revealed staff had sought legal guidance
• DHS has conducted polygraph tests on over a dozen high-ranking FEMA officials as part of ongoing tensions and leak investigations