A Department of Homeland Security inspector general report has confirmed what conservative media first alleged nearly two years ago: a FEMA disaster relief crew broke federal law when it skipped 11 Florida homes displaying support for then-candidate Donald Trump during Hurricane Milton recovery efforts in 2024. The homes were located in Lake Placid, a Highlands County municipality where Trump won roughly 70.1 percent of the vote in the November 2024 election.
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General found that the FEMA crew violated both the Hatch Act and agency policy, according to DC News Now. The Hatch Act bars federal employees from using their official authority to influence election outcomes and limits what political activity they can engage in while acting in an official capacity. The federal watchdog's report attributed the incident to weaknesses in FEMA's training, documentation, and oversight practices.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that investigates Hatch Act violations, separately probed the same incident and found in 2025 that it violated the Hatch Act. The office filed an administrative complaint with the Merit Systems Protection Board in February 2025 seeking discipline against Marn'i Washington, the FEMA supervisor accused of directing crews to avoid the Trump-supporting homes.
A Rogue Supervisor or a Broader Practice?
FEMA leadership has consistently characterized the episode as an isolated failure rather than a systemic problem. Michael Coen, in a text message to The Hill, said the violations were not systematic and were isolated, adding that FEMA took appropriate action once senior leadership was briefed. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell publicly called the directive reprehensible after The Daily Wire's report on the skipped homes surfaced on November 8, 2024, and Washington was terminated the following day.
Washington has disputed that framing. Following her termination, she stated in media interviews reported by the Washington Times that avoiding homes displaying Trump signage was an established agency de-escalation practice encouraged by direct superiors, and that it was applied across multiple states, including in North Carolina during the Hurricane Helene response. FEMA leadership has not adopted that account, and the dispute between her claim of systemic practice and the agency's isolated-incident stance remains unresolved.
The fallout extended well beyond personnel actions. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in November 2024 against former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Washington in the Southern District of Florida, alleging a conspiracy to deprive pro-Trump disaster victims of federal aid. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability also held a hearing on November 20, 2024, where Chairman James Comer and other members questioned Criswell about political neutrality in federal aid and demanded internal communications tied to the skipped homes.
Investigators Hit a Wall on Other Disasters
Investigators say they could not determine whether FEMA crews skipped homes for impermissible reasons during other disasters, in part because of a data access breakdown. The inspector general's office was unable to determine whether crews skipped locations for political reasons elsewhere because agency delays, combined with a September 2025 contract expiration, led a contractor to shut down access to the Field Assessment and Collection Tools system. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem did not act on FEMA's request to fund those tools, according to the report cited by DC News Now, and watchdogs had requested the underlying Survey123 system data as far back as March 2025, before the system went dark.
The scale of FEMA's canvassing work makes the 11 skipped homes a small fraction of a much larger operation. FEMA crews canvassed 744,288 homes and sites after Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, but logged no contact with 555,374 locations, citing safety concerns, private property signage, or no-trespassing markings, per the inspector general's report. That volume underscores how difficult it has been for investigators to sort routine skips from politically motivated ones once the underlying data became inaccessible.
FEMA Overhauls How It Delivers Aid
In response to the controversy, FEMA discontinued door-to-door Disaster Survivor Assistance canvassing altogether. Christopher Logan said FEMA-led door-to-door outreach efforts have ended, with the agency instead conducting survivor support from fixed locations determined by state and local officials. FEMA now uses what it describes as a data-informed approach for survivor support and has made Hatch Act and ethics training mandatory for Disaster Survivor Assistance crews before they deploy to future disasters.
The incident has become a political flashpoint amid broader GOP scrutiny of FEMA and has eroded public trust in the agency's impartiality and equal access to resources. Trump has called for abolishing FEMA and has pivoted toward downsizing the agency and limiting aid to states. A Politico report cited by DC News Now found that Trump approved 89 percent of disaster funding requests from red states compared with 23 percent from blue states, fueling accusations that the administration has politicized disaster aid even as it moves to restructure how that aid is delivered.
Under the Hatch Act, penalties enforced by the Merit Systems Protection Board can include letters of reprimand, civil fines up to $1,000, debarment from federal service for up to five years, or mandatory termination, according to the Legal Information Institute. It remains unclear what specific penalty, if any, has been imposed on Washington beyond her firing and the pending administrative complaint.
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