After a devastating hurricane in Florida, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials directed disaster relief workers to skip homes to “promote” support for President-elect Trump. He was dismissed from that position.
A FEMA spokesperson said in a statement to FOX News Digital that the agency is “extremely disturbed” by the incident and that the official who issued the directive “is directing teams to avoid these homes. No instructions were given.”
“While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken steps to remove the employee from his duties and are investigating to ensure this does not happen again,” a spokesperson said.
“The employee who provided this guidance was not authorized to do so and was not given instructions to direct the team to avoid these homes. We are in contact.”
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FEMA Headquarters in Washington DC (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The Daily Wire first obtained internal messages about the incident.
In a message obtained by the outlet, FEMA officials told workers to “avoid homes promoting President Trump.”
The newspaper said aid workers would enter a system to track applications that did not come into contact with residents, slamming the “Trump's signature no-contact directive from leadership.”
The aftermath of Hurricane Helen in Florida. (Office of Representative Kat Cammack)
The agency said it is investigating the incident and takes it “very seriously.”
FEMA noted that after Hurricanes Helen and Milton, FEMA assisted more than 365,000 households and provided more than $898 million in direct assistance.
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“We are horrified that this has happened and have taken extreme action to rectify this situation and ensure this issue is addressed at all levels,” the agency said. Ta. “Helping people is what we do best, and our employees across the agency will continue to serve survivors for as long as needed.”
On October 2, 2024, President Biden meets with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator DeAnne Criswell upon arriving at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina, to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Helen. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The U.S. House Oversight Committee and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement about X that no one responsible for employee guidance has been fired.
“FEMA did not fire this person…but the IRS is trying to force out IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley as a whistleblower! We will hold these unelected officials accountable. must,” Comer wrote to X.
The House Oversight Committee wrote about Mr. “Democrats are relentlessly defending rules that exempt unelected officials from accountability and make it nearly impossible to fire bad employees. That's why we need President Trump's reforms to hold bureaucrats accountable.” It is.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a storm preparedness press conference. (Florida Governor's Office)
In a statement on X, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that his administration would launch an investigation into FEMA.
“The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is another reason the Biden-Harris administration is coming to an end,” DeSantis said. “At my direction, the Office of Emergency Management will begin an investigation into federal targeted discrimination against Floridians who support Donald Trump.
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“New leadership is on its way to Washington, D.C., and I'm optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.”
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The revelations of mismanagement came after the Biden administration lectured the public about spreading “disinformation” about FEMA.
In a speech at the White House on the government's response to Hurricanes Milton and Helen, President Biden denounced the “reckless, irresponsible and relentless disinformation and blatant lies that continue to flow.”
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“Is that $750 they're talking about? Trump and others know it's a lie to suggest that's all they're going to get,” Biden said in an October speech. ” “It's just bizarre. They have to stop this. The way they're talking about this is completely un-American.”
