In the wake of two back to back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, FEMA has been under constant fire for one screw-up after another. Whistleblowers are now alerting the public that a supervisor issued official orders intentionally denying services to anyone who displayed a Donald Trump sign on their property. That supervisor has been fired but the investigations are only beginning.
Illegal FEMA discrimination
FEMA, which comes under the jurisdiction of Alejandro Mayorkas, has been in the center of one scandal after another. When California’s arson fire season got into full swing, the Democrat official whined he had no money to pay the firefighters.
Apparently the Federal Emergency Management Agency spent all the disaster relief money on processing illegal immigrants.
After whining for more money to cover the hurricane season, he got it. Congress replenished his disaster fund before adjourning. When the hurricanes hit, he started whining that he couldn’t pay for repairs because he doesn’t have the money.
That sparked a furious round of denials and walk backs from the administration. Well, FEMA does have the cash, the Homeland Security Secretary grudgingly admitted. He just didn’t want to spend it because he needs it to process migrants. To him that’s a much higher priority than helping U.S. citizens. Now, we find out that the snub was even worse.
FEMA head Deanne Criswell posted an acknowledgment on social media confirming the incident really occurred. It’s not Republican misinformation. An unidentified supervisor “has been fired for telling staff helping hurricane survivors to skip houses displaying signs supporting Donald Trump.”
Criswell admits that such behavior is “reprehensible.” She knows that the agency’s mission is “to help everyone before, during and after disasters.” Also, to take the job “seriously.”
More than one probe
When Criswell confirmed the sordid story, she carefully avoided mentioning any names or locations. That didn’t stop Florida Governor Ron DeSantis from “launching an investigation” at the state level, through Florida’s own Division of Emergency Management.
FEMA clearly broke the law by committing “targeted discrimination” of Trump supporters in Florida. Both the House and the Senate will be looking into it separately, as well.
In wake of the flooding and wind damage, FEMA staff deployed across the affected areas to survey damage to various homes. That’s a requirement “to assess who qualified to apply for federal aid.”
Anyone showing support for President Trump was automatically disqualified. Staff, it’s been reported, “had been checking on homes in Lake Placid when they were ordered to skip properties that had yard signs supporting the Republican candidate.”
Internal messages archived in a government server show the furious staffers commenting about the obviously discriminatory policy. “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” one worker documented. “When we got there we were told to discriminate against people,” another noted. That one also officially registered as a “whistleblower.”
Probably in fear of retaliation. “It’s almost unbelievable to think that somebody in the federal government would think that’s okay.” FEMA is not going to be happy that the House and Senate will both be under Trump’s control. Meanwhile, the current but surely temporary director, Criswell, promises she “will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again.“
