(NewsNation) — Lawmakers are questioning the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after hurricane recovery teams avoided homes with campaign signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump.
The Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management convened at 10 a.m. ET with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. Questions so far have focused on the agency’s preparedness and response to recent disasters, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The storms killed more than 200 people and caused at least $20 billion in damage, according to Associated Press reports.
Misinformation that circulated soon after further complicated response efforts.
What each side is saying
Chairmen Scott Perry, R-Pa. and Sam Graves, R-Mo., argued the agency’s short-fallings were the result of unnecessary red tape and what they consider misguided efforts to help migrants and ease climate change.
“The agency is accountable directly to the president, and so the buck stops with the president, regarding the constant mismanagement and lack of focus at its core mission,” Graves said.
Perry similarly bemoaned what he characterized as overcomplicated, bureaucratic agency practices.
“It seems the more we try to cut red tape, FEMA adds more or just simply doesn’t change course,” he said.
However, Congressmembers Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Rick Larsen, D-Wash., positioned the agency’s failures largely as a funding issue.
“FEMA’s disaster relief fund is once again approaching concerningly low levels, with less than $5 billion remaining,” Larsen said. “That sounds like a lot of money, but it is not a lot of money when you consider the costs of these disasters.”
Climate change is altering the behavior and severity of natural disasters. In turn, they’re becoming more expensive and lasting longer, Titus said.
The Small Business Administration disaster fund has been empty for more than a month, Larsen added. In that time, more than 11,000 survivors have been approved for disaster loan assistance.
“They will not receive any money until Congress makes more funding available,” Larsen said.
Ex-FEMA worker: ‘I’m being framed’
A FEMA worker was fired earlier this month after she directed others helping hurricane survivors not to go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump, according to the agency’s leader.
“This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation,” Criswell said in a statement at the time. “This was reprehensible.”
Titus also criticized the guidance.
“I condemn the employee’s decision about discriminating with aid,” Titus said. “That should never be the case, and Administrator Criswell immediately did the right thing when she learned about this instance by firing the employee and reporting the case to the Office of Special Counsel.”
The fired employee, Marn’i Washington, is accused of telling her survivor assistance team not to go to Florida homes with pro-Trump yard signs. Washington told NewsNation she believes she’s being used as a scapegoat for a common agency practice.
The instruction to avoid certain houses with certain campaign signs came from her direct superior based on previous team encounters, Washington said, adding that “safety precautions are not politically driven.”
Several recent hostile encounters happened at homes with Trump campaign signs, she said.
“I’m being framed. There’s no violation of the Hatch Act,” Washington said. “I was simply following orders.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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