The House Homeland Security Committee has requested interviews with several Federal Emergency Management Agency officials to investigate possible “institutional bias” against President-elect Donald Trump's supporters at the agency. are.
The Republican-led committee was tasked with working on disaster relief in Florida in the wake of recently fired FEMA official Marni Washington's boss and Washington's absence of Hurricane Milton relief workers in the Sunshine State. We are seeking transcripts of interviews with two other FEMA employees. Houses with President Trump signs were discovered and it was later revealed that the practice of “avoidance” was widespread.
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Representatives Dan Bishop (R-North Carolina) and Anthony D' “We are investigating potential discrimination against disaster victims by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Esposito (R-N.Y.) wrote in a letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Friday.
“MS.Washington's statement contradicts FEMA's press release and points to possible systemic bias within FEMA against individuals who support President-elect Donald J. Trump,” the members of Congress added. Ta.
After her firing, Ms. Washington, 39, told YouTube podcaster Roland Martin that her request for her team to “avoid homes that promote President Trump” in a “best practices” memo was due to “politically hostile people.” He said he was simply following FEMA's policy of avoiding “homes that are private.”
“FEMA preaches avoidance first and de-escalation second. This is not an isolated incident. This is an extraordinary incident of avoidance,” Washington argued.
“It's not just Florida. You're going to see evasion in the Carolinas,” she added.
Washington's claims contradicted statements by Criswell, who claimed the fired employees violated “FEMA's core values and principles” and “standards of conduct.”
Republican lawmakers said the Homeland Security Committee said that “households that support President-elect Trump, and even areas that are comprised primarily of Republican households, will experience reduced levels of resources, personnel, and support following natural disasters. We are deeply concerned that the recovery may be significantly prolonged.” If the bias that Washington claimed actually existed within FEMA.
The committee asked Criswell to request that FEMA Region 4 Administrator Robert Samman, Region 4 Deputy Administrator Robert Ashe, and former Washington supervisor Chad Hershey meet with the committee no later than Nov. 22. I asked him to comply.
FEMA did not respond to The Post's request for comment.
Criswell is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday in a separate congressional inquiry into potential bias at the agency.
