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A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official has been fired after directing disaster relief workers to skip homes "advertising" support of now President-elect Trump in the wake of the devastating hurricanes in Florida.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official has been fired after directing disaster relief workers to skip homes of supporters of now President-elect Trump in the wake of the devastating hurricanes.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a FEMA spokesperson said that they are "deeply disturbed" following the incident," noting that the official who gave the instruction "was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes."
"While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again," the spokesperson said.
"The employee who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes, and we are reaching out to the people who may have not been reached as a result of this incident," the agency said.
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FEMA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The Daily Wire first obtained internal messages about the incident.
In messages obtained by the outlet, a FEMA official is seen instructing workers to "avoid homes advertising Trump" among other practices.
The outlet noted that the aid workers would enter into a system tracking application that they made no contact with the residents, blaming the directive: "Trump sign, no contact per leadership."
Hurricane Helene aftermath in Florida. (Office of Congresswoman Kat Cammack)
The agency said that it is investigating the incident and are taking it "extremely seriously."
FEMA noted that following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the agency has helped over 365,000 households and provided over $898 million in direct assistance.
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"We are horrified that this took place and therefore have taken extreme actions to correct this situation and have ensured that the matter was addressed at all levels," the agency said. "Helping people is what we do best and our workforce across the agency will continue to serve survivors for as long as it takes."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a storm preparation news conference. (Office of the Florida Governor)
In a statement on X, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that his administration is launching an investigation into FEMA following the "blatant weaponization" of the agency.
"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," he said. "At my direction, the Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government's targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump."
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"New leadership is on the way to D.C. and I'm optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired," he added.
WATCH:
The discovery of mismanagement came after the Biden administration lectured people about spreading "disinformation" about FEMA.
During a White House address on the government's response to Hurricanes Milton and Helene, President Biden denounced the "reckless, irresponsible and relentless disinformation and outright lies that continue to flow."
"That $750 that they're talking about, Mr. Trump and all those other people know it's a lie to suggest that's all they're going to get," Biden said during an address in October. "It's just bizarre. They got to stop this. They're being so damn un-American with the way they're talking about this stuff."
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
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