House Oversight calls on FEMA director to testify after official tells workers to avoid homes with Trump signs
The FEMA official instructed workers canvassing Lake Placid in Florida to 'avoid homes advertising Trump'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The House of Representatives Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after an employee was terminated for instructing hurricane relief workers in Florida to avoid homes with Trump flags.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairperson of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, announced Saturday he sent FEMA Director Deanne Criswell a letter requesting she testify at a hearing to answer questions about the agency’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton.
In the letter, Comer said the hearing would "permit members to investigate recent reports that a FEMA official instructed relief workers to bypass hurricane-impacted homes displaying campaign signs for President Trump."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In the wake of the recent major disasters that impacted Americans of all political persuasions, it is critical that FEMA adheres to its disaster relief mission," he wrote.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has been asked to testify before a House committee after it was revealed an agency official directed hurricane aid workers to skip over homes with Trump signs. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The Oversight Committee's investigation followed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis's announcement Friday that he was launching an investigation into the agency.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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," DeSantis 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A tattered Trump flag amid destruction after Hurricane Helene in Florida. (Office of Congresswoman Kat Cammack)
The investigations were promptly launched after FEMA confirmed to Fox News Digital that an employee had instructed aid workers to deny relief to residents who had Trump campaign signs at their homes. The Daily Wire was the first to report it.
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"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," Criswell said. "I will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WATCH:
A FEMA spokesperson told Fox News Friday the agency is "deeply disturbed" by the employee’s actions and that it was an "isolated incident."
"FEMA helps all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation," the spokesperson said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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 spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that the agency has helped more than 365,000 households affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida and provided nearly $900 million in direct assistance to survivors."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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."
Fox News Digital has reached out to FEMA for comment.