FEMA fires employee for telling milton relief workers to skip houses with Trump signs
An employee with the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been fired after reports that after Hurricane Milton, the employee told relief workers in Florida to pass over houses with signs supporting Donald Trump, the agency said Saturday.
The agency confirmed that an employee had advised her survivor assistance team not to go to homes with yard signs supporting Trump during rescue efforts after Milton hit the state last month as a Category 3 hurricane. FEMA said the employee, whose name was not revealed, has been terminated. It said that it believed this was an isolated incident, which is now under investigation.
Deanne Criswell, the administrator of FEMA, said in a statement that the employee’s conduct was “reprehensible.”
“This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation,” she said.
Criswell added that the agency has referred the matter to an internal counsel’s office and that she will do everything she can to make sure this never happens again.
“I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA, and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct,” she said.
The agency also said that it was reaching out to people who may have not received aid as a result of the employee’s guidance.
The initial news of the FEMA employee giving that guidance to relief workers was first reported by The Daily Wire.
In a post on the social platform X, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said state officials were seeking answers for what he said were “partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy.”
“At my direction, the Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump,” DeSantis wrote.
The destruction from Milton — which killed more than 20 people, flattened homes and knocked out power to millions in Florida — came roughly two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm. Helene tore through Florida and the Southeast, unleashing floods, tornadoes and mudslides, and killing more than 200 people.
Initial estimates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggest total damage from Milton and Helene could cost upward of $50 billion. FEMA said that it has helped more than 365,000 households in Florida affected by the storms and has provided nearly $900 million in direct assistance to survivors.
But the incident involving the fired employee is likely to undermine FEMA’s efforts to combat the rampant disinformation it has encountered in its relief work. The agency and officials in several states have said that a barrage of conspiracy theories, rumors and lies about FEMA’s response has hindered the agency’s ability to provide accurate information and crucial resources.
Among rumors circulated on social media by prominent conservative politicians, including Trump, were false assertions that if people filed insurance claims, they would not be eligible for FEMA funding. Other baseless rumors suggested that FEMA was diverting relief funds to help pay for housing for migrants in the country illegally. The agency created a page on its website dedicated to debunking these claims.
In a call with reporters in October, Criswell said the spread of falsehoods made the agency a target of partisan rebuke and put lives at risk.
“It’s absolutely the worst that I have ever seen,” she said.
Last month, a North Carolina man was arrested and accused of threatening federal emergency workers who were administering aid there after the remnants of Helene ravaged parts of the state. The arrest came after FEMA directed its employees there to stop going door to door to help survivors amid various threats of violence.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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