WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Vern Buchanan led a letter co-signed by 54 House colleagues demanding answers and accountability from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following stunning revelations that an agency supervisor instructed staff to avoid providing storm assistance to homes displaying campaign signs for President-elect Trump.
According to reports from sources inside FEMA, at least 20 homes with pro-Trump campaign signs or flags were bypassed by relief workers from late October through November, as a result of guidance from a FEMA supervisor directing workers to avoid these homes. The supervisor alleged that this practice of political discrimination was “not isolated” to Florida, but also extended to the Carolinas. She even stated that “senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they don't know” while FEMA continues to deny assistance to storm victims across the country.
“FEMA has a responsibility to serve every American equally, regardless of political affiliation—especially in times of crisis,” said Congressman Buchanan. “It is deeply disturbing that FEMA would allow political bias to influence its disaster relief efforts. This is a clear violation of FEMA’s mission and Administrator Criswell needs to ensure that all affected residents are contacted, apologized to and provided with the assistance they need.”
Joining Buchanan on the letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell were Reps. Robert Aderholt, Brian Babin, Aaron Bean, Stephanie Bice, Gus Bilirakis, Lauren Boebert, Josh Brecheen, Vern Buchanan, Kat Cammack, Mike Carey, Buddy Carter, Dan Crenshaw, Warren Davidson, Byron Donalds, Jeff Duncan, Neal Dunn, Randy Feenstra, Drew Ferguson, Brad Finstad, Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Fleischmann, Virginia Foxx, Scott Franklin, Russell Fry, Matt Gaetz, Lance Gooden, Paul Gosar, Kevin Hern, French Hill, Richard Hudson, David Joyce, Doug LaMalfa, Nick Langworthy, Bob Latta, Laurel Lee, Debbie Lesko, Barry Loudermilk, Anna Paulina Luna, Nicole Malliotakis, Brian Mast, Rick McCormick, Mary Miller, Cory Mills, Greg Murphy, Ralph Norman, Burgess Owens, Bill Posey, Guy Reschenthaler, Mike Rogers, John Rutherford, María Elvira Salazar, Keith Self, Claudia Tenney, Beth Van Duyne, Tim Walberg and Daniel Webster.
“Americans deserve better. In this country, we protect all our citizens, regardless of political affiliation. We urge FEMA to take swift and decisive action to address this issue, hold those responsible fully accountable and restore public trust in its ability to serve every American in need,” said the lawmakers in the letter.
Buchanan has a strong record of supporting communities recovering from the impacts of these recent storms. In October 2024, Buchanan co-led a letter signed by the entire bipartisan Florida Congressional delegation, including Sens. Scott and Rubio, calling on President Biden to approve Gov. DeSantis’ request for an Expedited Major Disaster Declaration in the wake of Hurricane Milton. He also joined an earlier letter supporting DeSantis’ Expedited Major Disaster Declaration request for Hurricane Helene, which President Biden subsequently approved. Further, Buchanan led a bipartisan letter in November 2024 to Congressional leadership, co-signed by 32 members, calling for significant new funding to help replenish the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program following three catastrophic hurricanes.
Read the full text of Congressman Buchanan’s letter to Administrator Criswell here or below:
Dear Administrator Criswell,
We write to express our grave concerns regarding recent reports of a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official directing hurricane relief workers to avoid homes with Donald Trump for President campaign signs as the agency conducts disaster response efforts in Florida.
Several regions of the country are reeling from natural disasters, which have left families and communities struggling to recover. In this critical time, FEMA’s disaster recovery assistance is needed to assist our communities to get back on their feet. However, recent reports have revealed that a FEMA supervisor in Florida directed relief workers to bypass homes displaying support for President-elect Donald Trump, thereby denying assistance to residents in critical need. Sources from inside FEMA have reported that at least twenty homes with Trump signs or flags were skipped from the end of October through November due to this guidance, leaving homeowners without the opportunity to qualify for FEMA assistance.
Even worse, this FEMA supervisor has publicly stated that this behavior is not an isolated incident at the agency. In fact, according to the supervisor, the practice of denying assistance to certain storm victims based on political beliefs is a “colossal event of avoidance, not just in the state of Florida but in the Carolinas as well.” She even went so far as to state that “senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they do not know, but if you ask the [Disaster Survivor Assistance] crew leads and specialists what they are experiencing in the field, they will tell you.”
Such blatant discrimination is a severe breach of FEMA’s duty to serve all Americans impartially, especially in times of disaster when people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake. It is alarming and unacceptable that a federal agency would exhibit such blatant and politically charged bias, disregarding residents based on their political beliefs. This conduct erodes public trust and undermines FEMA’s mission to deliver unbiased and effective aid.
While FEMA has stated that this individual has been fired, you must work to ensure that any other bad actors are identified and immediately held accountable.
We also request assurances that that any families “skipped over” for assistance are contacted, apologized to and provided with the highest level of assistance moving forward.
FEMA must ensure that its services are delivered to all citizens free from political prejudice, and that this sort of despicable action is never able to take place again.
Americans deserve better. In this country, we protect all our citizens, regardless of political affiliation. We urge FEMA to take swift and decisive action to address this issue, hold those responsible fully accountable and restore public trust in its ability to serve every American in need.
To ensure that appropriate measures are taken to prevent these actions from occurring again, we ask that you respond to the following questions by December 14th, 2024.
- What guardrails are being put in place to ensure political discrimination like this incident will not occur at the agency again?
- What approval processes are in place to ensure that all guidance being sent out by FEMA officials has been appropriately authorized before it is shared with teams?
- Has FEMA contacted the residents of the homes that were skipped to ensure that they are receiving access to the federal aid they may be qualified for?
- It has been stated that FEMA is investigating the matter to prevent this from happening again. How long will it take to conduct this investigation?
- Have any other FEMA personnel been identified as directing workers to avoid homes with pro- Trump signs in Florida, the Carolinas or elsewhere? If so, have they been reprimanded or terminated?
- Please provide any incident reports of FEMA employees not engaging with citizens due to their political affiliation.
Thank you for your attention to this pressing issue, and we look forward to your timely response outlining the steps FEMA will take to rectify this situation and ensure that all affected Americans receive the assistance they deserve.
Sincerely,
###
