Scott, Tillis, Budd, and Colleagues Lead Push for Answers on Reports FEMA Avoided Trump Supporter Homes During Hurricane Recovery Efforts

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and 15 of their Republican colleagues in penning a letter to U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell expressing concern over recent reports that a FEMA employee advised disaster assistance teams in Florida responding to Hurricane Milton to avoid homes that had yard signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump. The employee has since claimed that the orders came from supervisors at FEMA, raising grave concerns over potential widespread politicization of disaster relief.  

“FEMA’s mission is ‘helping people before, during, and after disasters.’ When a natural disaster overwhelms state and local resources, FEMA is the option of last resort to help American families rebuild their lives in times of great distress and upheaval. For a FEMA employee to withhold aid or support from a household due to political affiliation is unacceptable and frankly reprehensible. While there are many dedicated public servants who are working around the clock to help disaster survivors at their most vulnerable point, it is clear that FEMA has fallen well short of its core mission to provide disaster relief to all Americans impacted by a natural disaster,” the senators wrote. 

“While we appreciate your swift condemnation of these actions and termination of the responsible employee, your former employee has made subsequent claims that this was not an isolated incident, even happening in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene brought devastating rains and floods the likes of which we have never seen. The idea that citizens, whose tax dollars fund FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) and pay FEMA officials’ salaries, may be purposely excluded from vitally needed aid is chilling and further erodes many people’s already tenuous trust in this administration,” the senators continued.  

“We demand answers, accountability, and transparency to hold your agency accountable to the American people and ensure that FEMA employees are providing support to all victims. Given the shocking and reprehensible nature of these allegations, our constituents deserve immediate answers and maximum transparency. As Members of Congress, we are committed to holding those responsible accountable and making sure that rank weaponization against the American public is never tolerated,” the senators concluded.

Senators Scott, Tillis, and Budd were joined by Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

Full text of the letter can be found here. 

###