The hurricanes that hit the southeast exposed a major scandal involving FEMA.
Substantial changes are in store for the embattled agency.
And FEMA supervisors were worried sick after a top Republican threw them this curveball.
FEMA discriminated against Trump supporters when disaster struck
A massive scandal involving the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was exposed after Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the country last fall.
Storm victims in parts of the southeast complained that FEMA was slow to arrive on the scene while private charities beat them to punch.
That slow response in places like Western North Carolina might have been malice instead of incompetence.
A whistleblower exposed that FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington ordered disaster relief workers in Lake Placid, Florida to skip homes with signs or flags showing support for President Donald Trump after Milton hit the area.
FEMA fired Washington after the report and claimed it was an isolated incident.
Washington claimed this was a widespread policy throughout the agency and the entire neighborhoods were skipped in storm-ravaged North Carolina.
But House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-KY) uncovered that a disabled veteran in Georgia had his home skipped by FEMA relief workers after Helene.
A bill is introduced to make political bias at FEMA illegal
RINO U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced a bill to bring the political discrimination against Trump supporters to an end at FEMA.
His Stopping Political Discrimination in Disaster Assistance Act would make a political affiliation a protected class for disaster relief like race or gender.
Lankford also praised Trump’s decision to create a 20-person council to investigate FEMA over the allegations of political bias against Trump supporters and recommend changes to the agency.
“The current federal framework for responding to disasters is insufficient, and major reforms are necessary to ensure Americans are best supported in times of need,” Lankford wrote in a letter to Trump.
Lankford was open to the idea floated by Trump that the states affected lead on disaster relief with financial support from the federal government.
“The federal government’s labyrinthine disaster response and recovery programs have not been subject to the scrutiny needed to assess whether it is achieving its goals or whether its funding would be better spent with limited strings attached at the state and local levels,” Lankford stated.
He thought that multiple areas of the federal government should be involved in disaster relief.
Trump mentioned political bias in his executive order creating a review council for FEMA.
“Indeed, at least one former FEMA responder has stated that FEMA managers directed her to avoid homes of individuals supporting the campaign of Donald J. Trump for President,” Trump wrote.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem vowed that she would eliminate political bias during one of her confirmation hearings.
FEMA crossed the line with its treatment of Trump supporters after Helene became one of the most destructive hurricanes in decades.
Now, the agency is facing serious reforms after it failed in its most basic mission to help Americans after a disaster.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
