A Department of Homeland Security watchdog found that FEMA personnel bypassed 11 Florida homes displaying support for Donald Trump during Hurricane Milton recovery operations, while a separate federal investigation concluded that former supervisor Marn’i Washington improperly used her official authority in connection with partisan activity.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Federal oversight findings have confirmed that Federal Emergency Management Agency workers bypassed homes displaying support for Donald Trump while conducting disaster-response work in Florida after Hurricane Milton, adding official findings to allegations first raised by whistleblowers.
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The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general determined that FEMA personnel skipped 11 homes where signs or other indications of support for Trump were visible, according to a report in The Hill.
The watchdog concluded that the conduct damaged confidence in the agency’s obligation to provide disaster assistance without regard to political affiliation.
The actions, the report said, “eroded public trust in FEMA’s ability to treat everyone impartially, offer unbiased and consistent assistance, and ensure equal access to resources and tools.”
Federal employees are restricted by the Hatch Act from engaging in certain forms of partisan political activity while exercising their official government authority.
The controversy arose after Hurricane Milton struck Florida as a Category 3 storm and FEMA teams were sent into damaged communities to contact residents, assess needs and connect survivors with federal assistance.
During that work, some personnel were instructed not to approach properties displaying Trump campaign signs.
Internal notes made by workers documented the direction.
“Trump sign, no contact per leadership,” one entry stated.
Former FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington was identified as the official who instructed members of a disaster relief team to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”
Washington was subsequently fired.
She later disputed the characterization that she had acted out of partisan hostility, maintaining that avoiding certain homes was not unusual and that FEMA personnel had been trained to stay away from situations they believed could become hostile.
The Department of Homeland Security inspector general nevertheless found that homes displaying political signs had, in fact, been bypassed.
A Gateway Pundit report said the watchdog attributed the breakdown in part to deficiencies involving “training, documentation, and oversight.”
The publication characterized that explanation more harshly, writing that “that is the polite, bureaucratic way of saying Biden’s FEMA treated MAGA households like the enemy while they were still digging out from a Category 3 hurricane.”
The episode eventually expanded beyond FEMA’s internal personnel response.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel filed a Hatch Act complaint against Washington and conducted a separate investigation into her actions.
According to the findings described in the report, investigators determined that Washington repeatedly told subordinates not to visit properties where Trump campaign signs were displayed and that she used her official position in a manner intended to interfere with or affect an election.
The Hatch Act establishes limits on partisan political conduct by federal employees when they are acting in their government capacities.
The Florida incident drew substantial congressional and political scrutiny after the allegations became public, particularly because FEMA’s disaster-response mission requires assistance to be distributed without partisan considerations.
Two X posts circulated commentary about the watchdog findings and the political implications of the incident.
A separate X post also highlighted calls for accountability following release of the findings.
The controversy became a significant political issue for FEMA during the Biden administration and intensified Republican scrutiny of the agency’s disaster-response practices.
According to The Hill, the episode “became a political flash point at the time and stoked significant GOP scrutiny of the disaster response agency. Trump eventually called for abolishing FEMA, though he later pivoted for trying to downsize it and limit aid given to states.”
Trump’s criticism of the agency ultimately broadened beyond the Florida controversy to encompass FEMA’s structure and the federal government’s role in disaster assistance.
The watchdog report, however, focused on the conduct surrounding Hurricane Milton and the failure to treat residents consistently during disaster outreach.
The findings are particularly significant because the people involved were not making ordinary partisan statements in their personal capacities. They were performing federally assigned disaster-response duties in communities recovering from a destructive hurricane.
That distinction is central to the Hatch Act concerns raised in Washington’s case.
The law generally permits federal employees to hold personal political opinions but restricts them from using their official positions or government authority to affect partisan political outcomes.
The investigations found that the direction to bypass Trump-supporting homes crossed that line.
FEMA has since changed the way it delivers certain forms of disaster assistance.
Officials say the door-to-door visits involved in the Florida controversy are no longer conducted in the same manner.
The agency now provides support “from fixed locations determined by state and local officials through a data-informed approach.”
That change is intended to reduce reliance on individual field workers deciding which homes to approach while providing disaster assistance.
The inspector general’s findings confirm that the original allegations were not merely anecdotal: 11 Florida properties displaying indications of support for Trump were skipped during federal disaster-response operations.
The Office of Special Counsel’s separate investigation further found that Washington repeatedly issued instructions tied to those political signs while acting in an official capacity.
Together, the findings have renewed questions over political neutrality inside FEMA and reinforced scrutiny of whether federal disaster resources were administered impartially during the Biden administration.
The watchdog’s central conclusion was that even a relatively small number of politically motivated exclusions can damage confidence in an agency whose mission depends on providing assistance based on need rather than political affiliation.
For residents recovering from a natural disaster, federal assistance is supposed to be available under the same standards regardless of which candidate’s sign appears outside their home — a principle the inspector general found was violated during FEMA’s Hurricane Milton response.
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