Alabama Senator Katie Britt praised the Trump administration for firing three more FEMA employees after it conducted an investigation into a supervisor’s directive for relief workers to skip homes with Trump flags or signs.
Britt made the comments in response to a letter she received from Acting FEMA Director Cameron Hamilton telling her that he had fired three employees who had a supervisory role over Marn’i Washington, the woman who told federal relief workers in Lake Placid, Florida, to “avoid homes advertising Trump.” Hamilton wrote in response to a letter Britt sent on November 9, one day after The Daily Wire first reported on the guidance, demanding answers from then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“I am sincerely grateful for FEMA’s efforts along with President Trump and [Homeland Secretary Secretary Kristi] Noem to ensure every American in need of critical aid, regardless of political affiliation, receives impartial assistance,” Britt, the chair of the subcommittee that appropriates money for Homeland Security, told The Daily Wire.
“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 added. “As I wrote in my letter to FEMA last November, the American people must have assurances this outrageous behavior never happens again.”
Hamilton’s letter to Britt closely mirrored a letter that was sent to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and the House Oversight Committee. He noted that the guidance, which led to around 20 homes being skipped, was investigated internally by the Office of Inspector General, the Office of the Special Counsel, and FEMA’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
“The OPR investigation found no evidence that this was a systemic problem, nor that it was directed by agency or field leadership,” he added. “However, it did determine that those in the immediate supervisor chain of the single staff member who engaged in this conduct should have had more direct control of their subordinates’ behavior. Thus, they failed to meet my expectations of leaders in this organization and have been terminated.”
“This action has been taken both because of their failure to meet our standards of conduct and because it is essential that the entire workforce understand that this incident was reprehensible, and this type of behavior will not be tolerated at FEMA,” he added, saying that FEMA employees were given additional training to make sure they knew that politics were not an acceptable consideration during disaster relief operations.
Britt’s initial letter to Mayorkas demanded answers on why the direction was given and that he make assurances that it would not happen again.
