Trump’s FEMA faces reckoning as more staff fired in ‘political bias’ scandal: GOP lawmaker

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has fired three more supervisors in the wake of an internal probe after a crew of disaster relief workers were directed to “avoid homes advertising Trump” in hurricane-battered Florida. 

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., exclusively told Fox News Digital that he is “confident” that the Trump administration will “root out egregious examples of political bias like this at FEMA.”

“After back-to-back hurricanes devastated Florida and left many in our area with nothing, it’s incomprehensible that FEMA relief workers were skipping over those in need,” he said. “FEMA has the responsibility to serve every American equally, regardless of their politics.”

FEMA OFFICIAL SAID TO AVOID HOMES WITH TRUMP SIGNS: ‘TO SAY I WAS SURPRISED WOULD BE A LIE’

This scene shows the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Florida. (Office of Congresswoman Kat Cammack)

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., echoed the Republican lawmaker’s sentiments, lauding the agency for its aim to provide “impartial assistance.”

“I also appreciate FEMA taking necessary action to fire these individuals complicit in bypassing homes and conditioning aid as well as to provide additional training for the agency’s employees,” she told Fox News Digital.

According to Buchanan, citing FEMA sources, at least 20 homes with pro-Trump campaign signs or flags were bypassed by relief workers from late October through November 2024 as a result of guidance from a FEMA supervisor directing workers to avoid these homes.

The additional firing of the staffers came after Buchanan sent an inquiry to FEMA that was co-signed by 54 other elected officials demanding transparency after it was revealed that management at the disaster relief agency instructed workers to pass over Trump supporters.

President Joe Biden talks with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, S.C., on Oct. 2, 2024, to survey damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Cameron Hamilton, the current acting administrator of the agency, announced in a Tuesday letter that an “exhaustive investigation” had concluded the supervisors failed to “meet our standards of conduct” or rein in their partisan behavior.

Hamilton noted that their investigation did not reveal that this was a “systematic problem, nor that it was directed by agency or field leadership.”

“It is essential that the entire workforce understand that this incident was reprehensible, and this type of behavior will not be tolerated at FEMA,” Hamilton wrote.

Hamilton’s comments that the directive was not a “systematic” issue at the relief organization directly contradict what Marn’i Washington, the FEMA supervisor who was fired, told “Fox News @ Night.”

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Washington said the agency threw her under the bus, alleging that she simply communicated a policy that came from her higher-ups.

“Why is this coming down on me? I am the person that jotted down the notes from my superiors and my notation in [Microsoft] Teams chat was exposed from their search capacity team,” Washington said.

In response to Fox News host Trace Gallagher asking, “So you’re telling me these orders came from somebody above?” she said, “Correct.”

The former FEMA employee alleged that the Florida team had already been avoiding Trump voters’ homes prior to her work there. 

“This was the culture. They were already avoiding these homes based on community trends from hostile political encounters. It has nothing to do with the campaign sign. It just so happened to be part of the community trend,” Washington explained.

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Investigations were launched after FEMA confirmed to Fox News Digital in November that an employee had instructed aid workers to deny relief to residents who had Trump campaign signs at their homes. The Daily Wire was the first to report it.

Shortly after the news broke, FEMA announced the termination of Washington.

“FEMA helps all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation,” a FEMA spokesperson told Fox News Digital in November. “The employee who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes, and we are reaching out to the people who may have not been reached as a result of this incident.”

The spokesperson added that the agency has helped more than 365,000 households affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida and provided “nearly $900 million in direct assistance to survivors.”

The town of Chimney Rock, N.C., is seen after flash flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Hamilton said she has directed additional training to staffers to “reinforce that political affiliation should never be a consideration in the rendering of assistance.”

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chair James Comer, R-Ky., lauded FEMA for “holding bad actors accountable.”

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“Political affiliation should never be a factor in distributing taxpayer-funded disaster relief to Americans,” he said in a release. “Americans demand accountability in Washington and President Trump and his administration are delivering it.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to FEMA for comment.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital.

Sarah joined FOX in 2021, where she has assisted on coverage of breaking and major news events across the US and around the world, including the fallout following the “Defund the police” movement, the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump’s life and illegal immigration.

She has experience reporting on topics including crime, politics, business, lifestyle, world news and more. You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.