WASHINGTON — Federal disaster workers operating during the Biden administration improperly skipped Florida homes displaying signs supporting Donald Trump while canvassing communities devastated by Hurricane Milton, according to a newly released Department of Homeland Security inspector general investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the findings after the DHS Office of Inspector General concluded that FEMA disaster-response personnel violated federal law and agency policy when political signage was used as a reason not to approach certain homes.
The investigation focused on Federal Emergency Management Agency outreach following Hurricane Milton, which struck Florida in October 2024, just weeks before the presidential election between Trump and then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to DHS, some households displaying pro-Trump signs were deliberately bypassed by FEMA personnel conducting disaster-survivor outreach.
The inspector general report is titled “FEMA Disaster Response Crew Violated Law and Policy by Skipping Homes with Political Signage.”
The findings provide federal confirmation that political affiliation improperly influenced at least part of FEMA’s disaster outreach during the Biden administration.
The distinction is important, however: the investigation concerns FEMA workers intentionally skipping homes during door-to-door disaster outreach. The findings do not establish that every affected homeowner was ultimately denied all federal disaster benefits or prevented from applying for assistance through another channel.
Still, being skipped during disaster outreach could have serious consequences for victims trying to recover from a major storm.
FEMA’s Individual Assistance program can provide disaster-stricken homeowners and renters with help for housing, damaged personal property, medical expenses and other recovery needs.
That assistance has played a major role in Iowa following severe weather.
In June 2024, NIT reported that President Joe Biden approved Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request for federal disaster assistance following devastating storms and flooding in Iowa, opening FEMA Individual Assistance programs to residents in several heavily damaged counties.
The amount of money involved can be substantial.
Following catastrophic flooding in northwest Iowa later that year, NIT reported that FEMA had approved $12.9 million in financial assistance for more than 500 households in Rock Valley alone.
Federal officials said disaster survivors should never have been treated differently because of their political beliefs or campaign signs displayed on their property.
FEMA conducted its own investigation in cooperation with the inspector general through the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
DHS said three additional individuals were terminated following that investigation because they failed to meet FEMA’s standards of conduct.
Those firings came after FEMA had previously investigated and publicly addressed the incident.
“Our job is to protect the American people, regardless of their political beliefs,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. “This is especially important when it comes to disaster relief, where every second counts and lives are on the line.”
Mullin sharply criticized what occurred during the previous administration.
“The blatant abuse of power seen at FEMA under the Biden Administration was unacceptable, inhumane, and un-American,” Mullin said.
He said those responsible have been punished and pledged that political affiliation will not determine whether disaster victims receive assistance.
FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton likewise said political bias has no place within the agency.
“What happened under the Biden Administration was unacceptable,” Hamilton said. “Under President Trump, political bias has no place at FEMA.”
Hamilton said FEMA has taken disciplinary action and changed the way the agency conducts disaster-survivor outreach.
One of the biggest changes is the end of FEMA-led door-to-door outreach.
Rather than sending FEMA teams neighborhood by neighborhood, agency personnel now provide assistance from fixed locations determined in cooperation with state and local officials using what DHS describes as a data-informed approach.
Federal officials say the change is intended to put more responsibility for disaster response at the state and local level while helping ensure disaster assistance is based on need rather than the political beliefs of survivors.
The controversy dates to FEMA’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage across portions of the southeastern United States in September 2024. Milton struck Florida the following month.
Reports subsequently emerged that some FEMA personnel had been directed to avoid properties displaying Trump campaign signs.
The new inspector general findings substantiate the central allegation that political signage was, in fact, used as a reason to skip some homes during disaster outreach.
DHS said FEMA has since strengthened accountability and taken action against employees involved.
The inspector general’s findings do not show that President Biden personally ordered or knew about the conduct, nor do they establish that avoiding Trump-supporting homes was an agency-wide FEMA policy.
They do show that federal employees operating FEMA’s disaster-response program during Biden’s presidency improperly allowed politics to affect how some hurricane victims were approached for assistance.
DHS officials say the Trump administration has instituted changes designed to prevent that from happening again.