House Set To Question Former FEMA Supervisor On Biden Admin’s Latest Scandal

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is set to hear testimony from fired FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington, who instructed team members to ignore houses with Trump signs and flags. The agency has attempted to frame the incident as a one-off, though Washington has alleged that the guidance was issued across the agency, leading to an untold number of pro-Trump households being unable to qualify for federal disaster aid.

In a letter Thursday to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, committee chair Sam Graves called for accountability and a full investigation into the incident. “As the FEMA Administrator, you are responsible for leading the Nation’s efforts to prepare for, protect against, and respond to natural disasters,” the letter reads. “The Committee is troubled that under your leadership FEMA failed to aid all Americans, regardless of party affiliation.”

The letter comes after ex-FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington gave the instructions both verbally and in a group chat used by relief workers who were surveying the damage from Hurricane Milton in the Lake Placid area last month, according to an explosive report from the Daily Wire. In a memo titled “Best Practices,” which was obtained by the outlet, a bullet point instructs workers to, “Avoid homes advertising Trump.”

(VOTE: Should JD Vance Run For President In 2028?)

Other bullet points instructed workers to focus on “de-escalation,” avoid traveling alone and to “follow the rules.”

In a statement after the report went public, Criswell stated that the employee had been “terminated” and described the incident as a one-off. “We take our mission to help everyone before, during and after disasters seriously. This employee has been terminated, and we have referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel,” Criswell told Fox News. “I will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again.”

Washington, however, is claiming that the guidance was issued to all FEMA employees and was not limited to her team alone. During an appearance on the Roland Martin Unfiltered podcast Monday, Washington stated that workers were told to avoid homes deemed to be hostile or dangerous to workers.

“They all allege that these actions were made in my own recognizance and that it was for my own political advances. However, if you look at the record, there is what we call a ‘community trend,’ and, unfortunately, it just so happened that the political hostility that was encountered by my team … they just so happened to have the Trump campaign signage,” she said.

Washington further claimed that her instructions were given by claiming that workers had been verbally and physically threatened by hurricane victims with signs in support of the Republican nominee. She stated that her instructions were consistent with FEMA’s “avoidance” and de-escalation policy.

On Tuesday, the committee is set to hear testimony from Washington, Rep. Graves told Fox News.

“Well, obviously we’ve heard some very disturbing reports coming out of Florida on discrimination when it comes to victims based on the political views. We’re also hearing the same sort of things coming out of North Carolina,” he said. “So we’re going to get to the bottom of it and figure out why it is that FEMA obviously would be doing this. And we ultimately need to get FEMA back on their core mission, and that’s just helping people that have been victimized by a natural disaster.”

When asked about Washington’s claims about agency-wide guidance to ignore pro-Trump homes, Graves stated that FEMA is actively discriminating against the Biden Administration’s political opponents.

“This is FEMA discriminating. That’s what it is, it’s plain and simple. To characterize people based on what signs they have in their yard or whatever the case may be as supposedly being hostile is nothing more than an excuse. That’s what it is. The fact of the matter is they were directing these team members to avoid those houses and it’s simply because of their political beliefs,” the congressman continued, adding that the agency’s conduct is “outrageous.”

(FREE REPORT: Take Advantage Of Trump’s New “IRS Loophole” ASAP)