House lawmakers overseeing FEMA ripped into Administrator Deanne Criswell on Thursday, demanding answers after one of her employees instructed relief workers to skip the homes of Trump supporters in Florida.
In a letter from 35 Republicans on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee shared with The Daily Wire, the lawmakers said that Criswell had failed Americans through her handling of relief efforts after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. They demanded Criswell provide a briefing to discuss guidance first reported on by The Daily Wire from now-fired supervisor Marn’i Washington to bypass homes with Trump signs or flags in Lake Placid.
“In reporting that first emerged from The Daily Wire, it was revealed that a FEMA supervisor sent a best practices message to FEMA workers canvassing the Florida area impacted by Hurricane Milton, which instructed the workers to ‘avoid homes advertising Trump,’” the letter said.
The letter was signed by Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-MO) and Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Chair Scott Perry (R-PA). They requested a briefing on the incident by December 2.
Whistleblowers told The Daily Wire that around 20 homes were skipped because of the guidance. FEMA responded to the report by saying it was an “isolated incident” and firing Washington.
The Republicans asked Criswell to provide documents on when officials first found out about the guidance and what they did when they found out about it. A whistleblower complaint was filed on the guidance on October 27, and Washington was fired on November 9.
“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,” the letter said.
“Your inability to ensure that FEMA provide relief to all Americans affected by disasters, free of discrimination, represents a substantial failure of leadership. The blatant disregard of President-elect Trump supporters directly contradicts FEMA’s core mission and values,” they added.
The lawmakers said that FEMA’s preparedness and readiness had been degraded because of a focus on equity and climate change. They pointed to stories from North Carolina where residents have said that FEMA has been slow to respond after Hurricane Helene devastated the region.
“It is clear that, under the Biden-Harris Administration, FEMA has been ill-prepared to provide assistance and relief to many Americans in need,” they wrote. “At the briefing, FEMA should be prepared to discuss concerns related to the agency’s failure to aid Americans regardless of party affiliation, including the steps FEMA has taken to assist unaided families, policies implemented to prevent future political discrimination, and the prevalence at which the agency fell derelict in its duty to assist victims.”
Criswell is set to testify before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management on Tuesday morning and the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
