A Federal Emergency Management Agency employee was fired after advising a survivor assistance team not to visit homes with yard signs that support President-elect Donald Trump during Hurricane Milton relief efforts in Florida last month.
In a statement on Saturday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell called the incident "reprehensible."
"This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation," she said in the statement shared with NBC News.
Criswell said FEMA's more than 22,000 employees are dedicated to helping those affected by disasters.
"I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct," Criswell said, adding that the employee in question was fired and the incident was referred to the Office of Special Counsel.
FEMA did not identify the employee.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he directed the state's Division of Emergency Management to launch an investigation into "the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump."
"The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days," DeSantis wrote on X.
Florida was severely affected by back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton weeks ago. The hurricanes left over 200 people dead in their wake, including in North Carolina and Georgia, and many structures destroyed.
