FEMA Archives - PEER.org

FEMA

Senior Counsel

Jeff serves as Senior Counsel to PEER, where he specializes in civil service, scientific integrity, and whistleblower protection issues. Jeff was PEER’s Executive Director from 1997 to 2019 and its Pacific Director from 2019 to 2025. Previously, he was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project, representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sectors. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney and an appellate court clerk. He is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy.

COMMENTARY | Alaska Can No Longer Ignore Climate Change: Latest Disaster Should Be Wake-Up Call

by Jeff Ruch | October 21, 2025
Remnants of typhoon Halong battered Alaska with hellacious winds and record-breaking storm surges, yet national and even state policies are unlikely to change in its aftermath ...

COMMENTARY | Trump Administration Descends on Dissenters; They’re Still Speaking Out

by Kaylee Rodriguez | September 18, 2025
A recent series of dissent letters signed by federal government employees documents the devastation this administration is inflicting on public health, safety, and the environment ...

PEERMail | Crippling Water Quality Flows and More

by PEER | April 30, 2025
We've worked hard to track and respond to many of the concerning DOGE-related efforts to dismantle the important work of federal agencies, especially those which are lesser known but still critical to the well-being of this country ...

COMMENTARY | Perils of Public Service: Oklahoma City Bombing Omens Gathering Again

by Jeff Ruch | October 29, 2024
As in the mid-90s, anti-government sentiments are running rampant. But today, these paranoid fantasies are fed by ever-growing doses of misinformation pumped into ever-present social media ...

Flying Blind – Our National Risk Assessment Still Under Wraps

by PEER | January 25, 2018
Unseen 2015 Analytic All-Hazard Assessment Designed to Inform Planners & Public ...