Former FEMA employee slams agency on equity focus after official tells workers to avoid homes with Trump signs

A erstwhile Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) worker said the guidance to skip implicit houses with Trump signs and banners is portion of a larger diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) contented with the agency, saying it was "completely avoidable."

Chelsea Nied, a erstwhile FEMA worker who was deployed 66 times successful 22 states connected the beforehand lines of earthy disasters, told Fox News Digital that Marn’i Washington, who has since been fired arsenic a FEMA supervisor, should person refused the absorption aft spotting the "glaring governmental line" implicit instructing alleviation workers to "avoid homes advertizing Trump."

"What was truly striking astir the database that Washington sent to alleviation workers was that you person a glaring governmental enactment aft seeing communal directions, similar portion water, beryllium hydrated, communicate," she said. "And successful my experience, peculiarly from being successful outer affairs, erstwhile you spot thing similar that doesn't look mean you request to escalate it."

FEMA OFFICIAL SAID TO AVOID HOMES WITH TRUMP SIGNS: ‘TO SAY I WAS SURPRISED WOULD BE A LIE’

Photo of Hurricane Helene aftermath provided to Fox News Digital by the bureau of Congresswoman Kat Cammack. (Office of Congresswoman Kat Cammack)

Public backlash came aft FEMA confirmed to Fox News Digital that an worker had instructed assistance workers to contradict alleviation to residents who had Trump run signs at their homes. The Daily Wire was the archetypal to study it.

The outlet said astir 20 homes successful Lake Placid, Florida, were passed implicit and not fixed authorities assistance aft Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene.

Deanne Criswell, FEMA's head connected worker misconduct, antecedently told Fox News Digital that Washington's actions were "reprehensible," and different FEMA spokesperson told Fox that Washington’s actions were an "isolated incident."

Washington, though, told "Fox News @ Night" that FEMA was throwing her nether the autobus for avoiding Trump supporters, which she alleges is simply a argumentation that came from her superiors.

Nied said she's been successful Washington's shoes before, saying that she should person escalated the absorption to precocious absorption and solved the struggle "in house."

"The large occupation with each of this is that this didn't person to get spun retired of power this acold and this wide. It could person been resolved, shall we say, successful house," she said. "And I've done that earlier successful FEMA wherever I've been fixed unethical orders similar this, and I instantly escalated it."

Deanne Criswell, head of FEMA, speaks during a quality league astatine the White House connected Sept. 26, 2024. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

The debacle follows aft FEMA named its apical precedence to "instill equity arsenic a instauration of exigency management," according to the authorities agency's strategic plan.

Nied said their extremity of equity toward Trump supporters successful the aftermath of Hurricane Milton was "discriminatory," adding that their apical precedence was "not applied" to supporters of the now-president-elect.

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"Every year, each FEMA worker has to instrumentality mandatory anti-discrimination and equity courses, truthful erstwhile you're seeing thing similar this, and you're discriminating," she said, "how tin FEMA tout that it's their fig 1 strategical program nonsubjective is equity for everybody, and past it's not applied?"

"Equity for everybody is everybody," she said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency office successful Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Nied leaned into her 12 years of catastrophe alleviation experience, saying her extremity was to scope each azygous idiosyncratic impacted by the tempest – contempt their governmental beliefs.

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"I was connected Hurricane Katrina, I was connected Hurricane Sandy – I cognize however this works, and I've been a squad person conscionable similar this idiosyncratic [Washington] has," she said. "In the field, I would canvass the full portion of it, meaning that I went to each door, each business. And successful immoderate cases, we've had to spell backmost 2 oregon 3 times due to the fact that immoderate radical mightiness beryllium gone, and you'd miss them astatine home."

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida attends a run rally for erstwhile President Trump astatine the Aero Center successful Wilmington, North Carolina, Sept. 21, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital that the FEMA workers not assisting homes with Trump signs successful Lake Placid, Florida, was "unacceptable."

"It's unacceptable and connected behalf of the national government, I'd similar my bureau to apologize, due to the fact that this should ne'er beryllium acceptable, particularly successful respect to governmental favoritism and the information that truthful galore of you mislaid your homes during Hurricane Milton," she said.

The typical said they are launching a full-scale probe into the FEMA allegations aft they heard that this was not an isolated incident.

"There needs to beryllium a afloat overhaul successful FEMA and these radical request to beryllium held liable and if that means criminals arsenic well," she said. "We person nary thought however galore radical person been impacted arsenic of close now, but what I tin archer you is based connected what we saw, it's impacted a batch of people."

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Residents are rescued from a second-story flat analyzable successful Clearwater that was flooded from an overflowing creek owed to Hurricane Milton connected Oct. 10, 2024, successful Florida. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)

Luna, whose territory includes Largo, Clearwater and Palm Harbor, said she saw firsthand however radical were impacted by the devastating and deadly hurricanes this season. 

"We had 13 radical dice successful my district, truthful erstwhile you perceive astir however these radical are impacted, it's precise imaginable that determination were health-related concerns astir erstwhile you're being denied FEMA help," she said. "There's definitely, I think, a liability here."

The Florida typical said she hopes the probe reveals names and afloat correspondence relating to this incident.

"More importantly, I privation to cognize however this tin beryllium avoided successful the aboriginal and that's precisely wherefore President Trump's prime for this presumption is truthful important," she said.

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Criswell is expected to be a House Committee connected Oversight and Accountability proceeding astatine 10 a.m. connected Nov. 19.

Fox News Digital has reached retired to FEMA for comment.