A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor reportedly told aid workers to skip over Trump supporters’ homes while doling out aid after Hurricane Milton in Florida, according to internal communications and federal workers.
Marn’i Washington, a FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crew leader for Highland County, was identified as the supervisor who allegedly gave the order, the Daily Wire first reported. The outlet provided a screenshot featuring a flowchart of the leadership that shows the name.
Washington told workers who were seeking Lake Placid, Florida residents who qualified for post-hurricane aid in late October to “avoid homes advertising Trump signs,” the outlet reported, citing texts it verified using multiple federal workers.
EXCLUSIVE: Internal messages obtained by The Daily Wire show a FEMA official ordered relief workers in Florida not to help houses with Trump signs pic.twitter.com/o73ejUuYUG
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 8, 2024
Washington gave this advice both verbally and over text messages, workers said to the Daily Wire. Her instruction led to at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags being passed over in consideration for post-hurricane aid between late October and November, government employees alleged.
The instruction to avoid Trump-supporting homes was on a list of “best practices” from the supervisor which also included other safety tips to avoid dehydration such as “frequent breaks and drink water” and “avoid high salt diets and coffee,” according to a screenshot obtained by the outlet. (RELATED: After Dumping Cash Into Migrants, Diversity, FEMA Failed To Answer Nearly Half Of Calls From Hurricane Survivors)
Workers allegedly logged the homes they skipped over with messages like ““Trump sign no entry per leadership,” “Trump sign,” “Per leadership no stop Trump flag” and “Trump sign, no contact per leadership,” according to the Daily Wire. The outlet showed a screenshot featuring one of these phrases.
Some of the employees, who were a voluntary surge force from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), expressed their dissatisfaction to the Daily Wire.
“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,” one federal worker told the outlet.
“I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them,” the employee reportedly said. “It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.”
Washington allegedly gave the guidance to workers in Florida’s Highlands County, where nearly 70 percent of residents voted for Trump on Tuesday.
She began to withdraw the guidance around Oct. 30, workers told the Daily Wire. They claimed the official denied its existence following a meeting of FEMA leadership.
Washington was not punished for her alleged guidance, but she was transferred to another Florida county, workers told the outlet.
Hurricane Milton devastated the region, coming less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida. The Category Three storm left millions without power and caused approximately $50 billion in economic losses, President Biden told reporters on Oct. 11.
The Daily Caller reached out to FEMA to confirm the report but did not hear back by time of publication.
“We are aware of it and we are taking action at this moment regarding the situation that you’re talking about,” Chad Hershey, the FEMA supervisor above Washington, told the Daily Wire after the outlet requested confirmation of the messages it obtained.
The outlet added another statement from FEMA after publication.
“FEMA helps all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation and we are deeply disturbed by this employee’s actions. 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 ever happening again,” the statement read.
FULL STATEMENT: “FEMA helps all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation and we are deeply disturbed by this employee’s actions. While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are…
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 8, 2024
“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. This is a matter that we take extremely seriously and we are doing everything we can to make sure all survivors receive support from FEMA,” the statement continued.
“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,” FEMA said.