FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said a critical function of the agency is to go door-to-door and meet with survivors to make them aware of federal resources available. The employee, she said, wrote to about 11 staffers under her supervision that they should “avoid homes advertising Trump.”
Criswell said her senior leadership team provided her with evidence and recommended that the employee be terminated. She concurred.
“I do not believe that this employee's actions are indicative of any widespread cultural problems at FEMA,” Criswell said. Still, she said she would support an independent investigation into the matter.
"The IG has not yet stated they want to investigate this, but I highly encourage them to take on this case and look and see if this was a widespread issue or if this was just a single incident,” Criswell said.
It was clear that while lawmakers were conducting an oversight hearing looking at the overall response by FEMA to the devastating storms, they were particularly focused on reports about the agency avoiding helping some Americans based on their political beliefs.
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., acknowledged that while the employee was quickly terminated, it was clear from an interview with that worker that she believed she was carrying out directions from the agency.
“It seems this particular worker believes she is being treated like the scapegoat, and if that is the case, more people at FEMA must be held accountable," said Perry, who chairs the panel that held Tuesday's hearing.
Criswell said she is committed to ensuring “nothing like this ever happens again.” In the meantime, a different team was sent into the field to contact all the homes that had been skipped over at the employee's direction.
