A Federal Emergency Management Agency employee has been fired after she instructed employees helping hurricane survivors not to go to homes with 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 of helping people regardless of their political beliefs,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “This was reprehensible.”
The agency did not identify the employee or say where it happened.
But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called it “targeted discrimination” against Floridians who support Trump and said it happened in Florida.
DeSantis said he has ordered the Florida Division of Emergency Management to launch an investigation into the matter.
“The blatant weaponization of the 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 emerging in DC, and I am optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired,” he said.
There were no details in FEMA’s statement or DeSantis’ comments about the time frame or community where the incident occurred. FEMA workers have been in the state to help residents recover from Hurricane Milton, which devastated many Florida communities last month.
Criswell said she is committed to holding employees accountable.
“I will continue to do everything I can to ensure this never happens again,” she said.
