Posted on 11/09/24
| News Source: The Hill
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employee was terminated after advising her survivor assistance team to not go to homes with President-elect Trump campaign signs on them following the onslaught of Hurricane Milton in Florida, the agency’s head confirmed.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell described the incident as “reprehensible,” noting that “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.”
But that “recently, one 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 and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation. This was reprehensible,” Criswell said in a statement.
The employee, who FEMA did not name, was terminated and the incident was referred to the Office of Special Counsel, according to Criswell.
“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,” the FEMA chief said.
The development comes after The Daily Wire’s report on Friday detailed the employee telling workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump,” citing internal correspondence between the workers and the employee. At least 20 homes were bypassed due to her guidance, multiple government employees told The Daily Wire. The workers were canvasing in Lake Placid, Fla.