A Federal Emergency Management Agency worker has been fired after she directed workers helping hurricane survivors not to go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump, the agency's leader said in a statement Saturday.
“This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said. “This was reprehensible.”
The agency did not identify the employee, nor did it say where it happened.
But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling it “targeted discrimination” of Florida residents who support Trump, said it happened in Florida.
DeSantis said he has directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to begin an investigation into the matter.
“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 on social media.
“New leadership is on the way in DC, and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired,” he said.
The House of Representatives Oversight Committee also has launched an investigation, the New York Post reported early Sunday.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairperson of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said he sent FEMA Director Criswell a letter requesting she testify at a hearing to answer questions about the agency’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Criswell said she is determined to hold employees accountable.
“I will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again,” she said.