Biden-Harris Federal Emergency Management Agency Deanne Criswell announced Saturday a federal disaster relief official who advised her survivor assistance team to ignore homes displaying Trump signs in Lake Placid, Florida, following Hurricane Milton has been fired.
Criswell said in a post on X:
More than 22,000 FEMA employees every day adhere to FEMA’s core values and are dedicated to helping people before, during and after disasters, often sacrificing time with their own families to help disaster survivors.
Recently, a FEMA employee departed from these values to advise her survivor assistance team to not go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Trump. This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values & principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation.
This was reprehensible. I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct.
We take our mission to help everyone before, during and after disasters seriously. This employee has been terminated and we have referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel. I will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again.
The firing came shortly after the Daily Wire reported that the official, 38-year-old Marn’i Washington, had ordered disaster relief workers to bypass homes of Trump supporters as they surveyed damage caused by Hurricane Milton.
Washington, who was the Disaster Survivor Assistance crew leader for Highland County, instructed workers in a group chat with relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump,” as they were canvassing Lake Placid, Florida, to identify residents who could qualify for federal aid.
Multiple government employees told the Daily Wire that Washington also relayed this message verbally.
The employees told the outlet that “at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags” were skipped from the end of October and into November — about the same time as the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.
Images shared with The Daily Wire show that houses were skipped over, with workers writing in the government system messages such as: “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” “Per leadership no stop Trump flag,” “Trump sign,” and “Trump sign, no contact per leadership.”
The report said, “It is unclear whether the same guidance was issued elsewhere in the country.”
One of the employees told the outlet, “I know they’re short-staffed, I thought we could go help and make a difference,” adding, “When we got there we were told to discriminate against people. It’s almost unbelievable to think that somebody in the federal government would think that’s okay.”
The employee added it felt wrong to discriminate against Trump supporters when they were at their “most vulnerable.”
“I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them,” the employee told the outlet. “It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.”
One of the employees wrote in a whistleblower complaint filed to DHS: “If they had damage or lost power for over thirty-six hours, it was my duty to inform them of benefits to which they are entitled through FEMA.”
The employee added, “This behavior raises significant concerns of discrimination against United States citizens because of their political views… . These actions not only undermine the integrity of our agency and create a hostile work environment for those who may hold differing political beliefs but they also threaten the very democracy of our country.”
One employee told the Daily Wire that the guidance was first issued by Washington verbally on October 22 — about two weeks before the election, and then again in the group chat on October 27, just about a week before the election.
The guidance to avoid homes with Trump signs or flags was then deleted a few days later, and then by October 30, she was reportedly walking about the guidance and had denied that homes were being skipped after a meeting with other FEMA administrators.
Washington did not respond to queries from the Wire. Employees told the outlet as of publishing time, she had not been punished for the guidance, but had been shifted to another county in Florida.
Washington’s guidance came amid criticism over its slow response time after Hurricane Helene hit Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It took six days after the hurricane for federal disaster relief workers to arrive in North Carolina.
According to the Daily Wire, it took nearly two weeks for FEMA to show up in Roan Mountain, Tennessee, which is located in Carter County and went 81 percent for Trump on Tuesday.
Highlands County — where Washington was the the FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crew leader — went 70 percent for Trump on Tuesday.
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