FEMA fires employee who ordered workers to skip homes with Trump signs

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said Saturday it has fired the employee accused of ordering relief ad workers to skip homes in Florida that had signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump. 

“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 will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct,” Ms. Criswell said in a statement. “This employee has been terminated and we have referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel. I will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again.”

Ms. Criswell said the employee’s actions were “reprehensible” and was “a clear violation of FEMA’s core values.

The employee, Marin’i Washington, told employees both verbally and in a group chat used by the team to “avoid homes advertising “Trump” as they surveyed the damage by Hurricane Milton in Lake Placid, Florida.

The workers were surveying the damage to identify which residents would require federal aid, according to a report in The Daily Wire, citing multiple government employees.

Government workers told the outlet that at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags were skipped from the end of October and into November because of the order. That means the Trump supporters were not notified or given the opportunity to apply for FEMA assistance.

One worker wrote in the government system messages such as “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” according to the report.

There was no explanation for the guidance. 

The FEMA workers were ordered not to help homes with Trump signs while working in Highlands County, a deep-red area of Florida that backed Mr. Trump by 70% on Tuesday. 

On Friday Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered an investigation into the reports that FEMA workers were skipping homes of Trump supporters. 

Mr. DeSantis wrote on X that he directed the state’s Division of Emergency Management to probe “the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump.” 

“The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days,” Mr. DeSantis wrote. “New leadership is on the way in DC, and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.”