House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said he will open an investigation into a report that the Federal Emergency Management Agency blocked disaster relief from supporters of President-elect Donald Trump.
Scalise’s announcement Thursday evening came after the Daily Wire reported that a FEMA official ordered employees to “avoid” Florida homes “advertising Trump” after Hurricane Milton hit the state.
“Denying disaster aid to Americans based on their support of President Donald Trump is as disgusting as it gets for an unelected bureaucrat being paid by American taxpayers,” the lower chamber’s top Republican declared in a statement to X.
“The House will be investigating this outrageous abuse of power,” Scalise continued.
The federal agency has confirmed whistleblowers’ reports that FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington told employees it was “best practice” to skip Trump-supporting homes as they canvassed Florida neighborhoods to determine who needed assistance following the recent Hurricane Milton. FEMA workers skipped at least 20 known homes with Trump signs or flags under Washington’s direction.
FEMA said it was “deeply disturbed by this employee’s actions” and claimed that the agency works to “hel[p] all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation.”
After the Washington Examiner pressed FEMA on whether the agency had fired the official who denied aid to Trump supporters, it replied, “We have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again.”
FEMA continued to assert that the employee “had no authority” to give the guidance “and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes.”
The backlash from top Florida officials following the revelations was immediate, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) calling for his own investigation from the Sunshine State’s Division of Emergency Management.
“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,” DeSantis said in a post to X.
Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) echoed the governor’s rhetoric as they slammed FEMA for “unconscionable discrimination.”
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“While people were dying and in need of help, a FEMA employee decided people who support President Trump are not worthy of it,” Luna worried in a post to X.
Trump has criticized FEMA over the agency’s response to help victims after Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated the Southeast. His concerns have particularly resonated with hard-hit communities in western North Carolina, where many counties overwhelmingly voted for him on Tuesday, despite FEMA’s protestations that accusations of a sluggish disaster relief response are false.