House Republicans are probing allegations of discrimination by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Florida following the termination of an agency employee who advised a survivor assistance team to skip homes with President-elect Trump campaign signs.
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is calling on FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to brief the panel by Dec. 2 about the incident, what the agency is doing to help unaided families and what policies are being implemented to “prevent future political discrimination.”
The committee also asked FEMA to provide documents and information about the agency’s effort to reach and aid homes that were skipped because of the incident, along with other communications.
“As the FEMA Administrator, you are responsible for leading the Nation’s efforts to prepare for, protect against, and respond to natural disasters. The Committee is troubled that under your leadership FEMA failed to aid all Americans, regardless of party affiliation,” Republican House lawmakers said in a letter that was shared with The Hill.
FEMA confirmed last week that it terminated an employee, Marni Washington, for telling workers canvassing in Lake Placid, Fla., in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton to “avoid homes advertising Trump.” More than 20 homes were bypassed.
“This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation. This was reprehensible,” Criswell said last week regarding the employee’s termination.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) shortly after said that state officials were kicking off a probe into the incident. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said Saturday that he sent a letter to Criswell demanding that she testify in front of the committee regarding FEMA’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton and the recent incident regarding the terminated employee.
“Your inability to ensure that FEMA provide relief to all Americans affected by disasters, free of discrimination, represents a substantial failure of leadership,” GOP House lawmakers said in the letter.
All 35 Republican members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee signed on to it. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) is the chair of the committee.
“The blatant disregard of President-elect Trump supporters directly contradicts FEMA’s core mission and values,” Graves said in a press release.
Florida’s attorney general, Ashley Moody (R), sued the FEMA chief on Wednesday, saying that she “agreed” to deny aid to Trump supporters in Florida alongside Washington.
“While the facts will continue to come out over the weeks and months, it is already clear that Defendant Washington conspired with senior FEMA officials, as well as those carrying out her orders, to violate the civil rights of Florida citizens,” the complaint, filed in federal court in Fort Pierce, Fla., said.
Washington said in a Monday interview with journalist Roland S. Martin that the federal agency was scapegoating her and that homes were skipped because of “verbal abuse” by those Trump supporters.
“They all alleged that these actions were made on my own recognizance and that it was from my own political advances. However, if you look at the record, there is what we call a community trend,” Washington said. “And unfortunately, it just so happened that the political hostility that was encountered by my team — and I was on two different teams during this deployment — they just so happened to have the Trump campaign signage.”
The committee said it is “continuing its oversight of FEMA’s ability to adequately respond to natural disasters.”
“It is clear that, under the Biden-Harris Administration, FEMA has been ill-prepared to provide assistance and relief to many Americans in need,” the GOP lawmakers said in the letter.
The Hill has reached out to a FEMA spokesperson for comment.
