Why was a FEMA employee fired? – Desert News

A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employee who was fired after allegedly instructing a team of hurricane responders not to go to homes where there were yard signs in support of President-elect Donald Trump said on a podcast that she violated the policy of the agency followed.

Marn’i Washington, the former FEMA employee, spoke about the controversy with a podcaster, claiming that she was following FEMA policy by staying away from what she described as “politically hostile” homes, per The New York Post.

The Associated Press reported that FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said, “This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values ​​and principles of helping people regardless of their political beliefs. This was reprehensible.”

National results

Watch the national results update in real time

The incident has sparked political backlash, prompting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to launch an investigation into FEMA’s actions.

“The government’s blatant weaponization by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the… Biden-Harris administration is in its final days,” DeSantis said per Fox News.

DeSantis said the agency’s actions are considered “targeted discrimination against Floridians who support Donald Trump,” per Fox News.

FEMA workers have been helping residents recover from recent natural disasters, first Hurricane Helene and then Hurricane Milton, according to NPR.

The controversial incident follows a period in which FEMA has tried to combat what it has called wrong information on the government’s response to recent natural disasters.

Last month Criswell said NPR that “disaster response is non-political. It’s all about the people.”

“We take our mission to help everyone before, during and after disasters seriously. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure this never happens again,” Criswell said.

Fox News reports this that the agency has supported more than 365,000 households affected by the recent hurricanes and provided approximately $900 million in assistance to help survivors.