A supervisor within the Federal Emergency Management Agency who told staff it was “best practice” to skip over Trump-supporting homes for relief from Hurricane Milton has been fired.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell announced the firing of supervisor Marn’i Washington in a spate of posts on X, calling Washington’s directive “reprehensible” and a “clear violation of FEMA’s core values & principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation.”
“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,” Criswell added.
FEMA previously told the Washington Examiner that it had “taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again.”
The firing comes a day after a whistleblower report indicated that Washington instructed FEMA employees to skip over Florida homes that had Trump signs or flags outside as they surveyed damage across the state from Hurricane Milton. The report led to instant backlash from state leaders such as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and prominent members of the House of Representatives including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
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Both announced investigations of their own, in the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the House, respectively.
FEMA has received widespread criticism for its responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, including from President-elect Donald Trump. FEMA has rejected the accusations against it that disaster relief has been slow, specifically in western North Carolina, which was devastated by Helene.
