Investigators Reveal Widespread Avoidance of Pro-Gun and Pro-Trump Homes
A bombshell report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Office exposes a chilling pattern of political discrimination at FEMA, far beyond what Biden-era officials ever admitted. Canvassers and contractors, tasked with aiding disaster victims, routinely skipped homes displaying pro-Trump signs or pro-gun messages—violating the federal Privacy Act by collecting and storing protected First Amendment information. The probe found that pro-gun avoidance was the dominant issue, accounting for over 80% of the 102 violations uncovered since 2021, while pro-Trump cases made up just 15%.
“It is impermissible for canvassers to collect First Amendment-protected information, yet some canvassers seemed to equate certain political positions with hostile or unsafe situations,” the report concluded.
In many instances, this led to delayed or denied aid, even though residents were legally entitled to assistance. Though other teams eventually visited those homes, the initial bias caused real harm to everyday Americans already reeling from natural disasters.
The targeting ramped up during election cycles, with only three violations in 2021 and nine in 2023, but a spike to 22 in the 2022 midterm year and a staggering 68 in 2024 amid the presidential race. This isn’t just bureaucratic sloppiness—it’s a deliberate culture of exclusion that undermines the core promise of FEMA: help for all, no questions asked.
Secretary Noem Demands Accountability and Justice
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the findings something that “should horrify every American, regardless of political persuasion.”
She slammed the Biden administration’s FEMA for “intentionally delayed much-needed aid to Americans suffering from natural disasters on purely political grounds. They deliberately avoided houses displaying support for President Trump and the Second Amendment, illegally collected and stored information about survivors’ political beliefs, and failed to report their malicious behavior.”
In a decisive move, Noem referred the case to the Justice Department for potential criminal charges and issued sweeping orders to overhaul FEMA’s training and protocols, ensuring no repeat of this abuse of power. It’s a stark reminder that federal agencies exist to serve the people—not to play political games with their lives.
Lawmakers and Whistleblowers Expose Years of Systemic Failure
The scandal traces back to at least 2021, when Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana, and a FEMA staffer logged a home with a “Trump country” sign—flagged as “spillage” under the Privacy Act for capturing protected speech. But it escalated: Canvassers actively “bypassed homes” based on these notations, and none of the dozens of violations were properly reported internally.
The tipping point came last fall after Hurricane Milton ravaged the Southeast. Whistleblower reports revealed team lead Marn’i Washington instructing her crew: “Avoid homes advertising Trump.”
At least five followed suit, skipping Trump-sign homes despite zero safety risks, as confirmed by the Office of Special Counsel—which also ruled her actions breached the Hatch Act. Washington was fired but claimed, “I was simply following orders,” insisting she was “being framed.”
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., whose probe ignited this investigation, hailed the report as “explosive.”
“This blatant political bias has no place in disaster relief — period,” he declared, criticizing FEMA’s earlier firings of oversight failures as insufficient. “FEMA must hold every responsible party accountable for enabling a culture that allowed political discrimination to thrive under the Biden administration.”
While the Privacy Office found no top-down directives from leaders, the lack of preventive guidance speaks volumes about the rot that festered unchecked. This is America—where disaster aid should unite us, not divide us along partisan lines.
What are your thoughts on FEMA regarding this scandal? Let us know by posting in the comments section!
