House Oversight calls on FEMA director to testify after official tells workers to avoid homes with Trump signs

The House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after an employee was fired for instructing hurricane relief workers in Florida to avoid homes with Trump flags.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, announced Saturday that he sent FEMA Director Deanne Criswell a letter requesting that 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 “allow members to examine recent reports that a FEMA official directed emergency workers to bypass hurricane-affected homes displaying campaign signs for President Trump.”

“In the wake of recent major disasters affecting Americans of all political persuasions, it is critical that FEMA adhere to its disaster relief mission,” he wrote.

FEMA OFFICIALLY REGISTERED HURRICANE DEALERSHIP WORKERS TO AVOID HOMES WITH TRUMP SIGNS AS AGENCY CLEANS UP

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has been asked to testify before a House committee after it was revealed that an agency official directed hurricane relief workers to skip homes with Trump signs. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The oversight committee’s investigation followed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement Friday that he was launching an investigation into the agency.

“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 Department of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government’s targeted discrimination against Floridians who support Donald Trump.

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“New leadership is coming to DC and I am optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.”

A tattered Trump flag amid the destruction after Hurricane Helene in Florida. (Office of Congresswoman Kat Cammack)

The investigations were immediately launched after FEMA confirmed to Fox News Digital that an employee had instructed aid workers to deny emergency aid to residents who had Trump campaign signs in their homes. The Daily Wire was the first to report it.

FEMA OFFICIAL FIRED FOR DIRECTING HURRICANE RECOVERY AWAY FROM TRUMP SUPPORTERS’ HOMES

“We take seriously our mission to help everyone before, during and after disasters. 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.”

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A FEMA spokesman told Fox News on Friday that the agency is “deeply troubled” by the employee’s actions and that it was an “isolated incident.”

“FEMA helps all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation,” the spokesman said.

“The officer who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no instructions to ask teams to avoid these homes and we are reaching out to those people who may not have been reached as a result of this incident,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman 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 aid to survivors.”

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“We are appalled that this took place and have therefore taken extreme measures to rectify this situation and have ensured that the matter was dealt with at all levels.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to FEMA for comment.