It’s hard to shock Americans these days, but this latest scandal from FEMA is doing just that. Imagine this: FEMA workers sent to help Hurricane Milton victims in Florida were reportedly told to ignore homes with Trump signs. Yes, in a time when families are desperately waiting for help, a FEMA supervisor allegedly instructed workers to avoid homes needing assistance simply because they displayed support for a certain candidate.
This isn’t just an example of political bias—it’s discrimination of the worst kind. Democrats have long warned about a so-called Republican “tyranny,” but here we have an actual government agency behaving like an arm of a political campaign, choosing who deserves help and who doesn’t based on yard signs. This goes against everything America stands for. And as expected, Republicans are stepping up, demanding accountability.
A Bold Response from Florida
In the wake of this scandal, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) wasted no time calling for a full investigation and proposing a radical change. After hearing the disturbing news from The Daily Wire, he declared that FEMA’s behavior needs a serious look and even suggested that the agency should be yanked out from under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and report directly to the White House.
The story blew up after FEMA fired the official at the center of this controversy, Marn’i Washington, who allegedly told her team to “skip over” houses showing Trump support. That’s right—she reportedly ordered relief teams to ignore certain homes, while families sat waiting, desperate for help after the hurricane. Let’s be real: firing one person doesn’t fix the kind of cultural rot that led to such a blatant misuse of power.
Rep. Donalds wasn’t about to let this slide. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, he made it clear: “Anybody involved with that should be fired immediately.” And he’s right. Washington might be gone, but what about the culture that allowed this to happen in the first place? Floridians and leaders across the board are outraged, and even Governor Ron DeSantis is opening an investigation, saying this is not the America where we withhold help based on political affiliations.
A Call for Overhaul: Making FEMA Report Directly to the White House
But Donalds isn’t stopping there. He’s calling for a complete overhaul of FEMA, proposing that the agency be split from the DHS entirely and placed under direct White House oversight. His logic? If FEMA answers directly to the president, it becomes less tangled in political bureaucracy, and help goes straight to Americans in need—without any biased filter.
“When disaster strikes, Americans should know they’ll get help quickly, not based on their politics but based on their need,” Donalds explained. This type of restructuring could streamline disaster relief efforts, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their yard signs, gets help when it matters most.
FEMA’s Bigger Problems and Mayorkas’ Role in Them
This scandal only scratches the surface. FEMA’s issues go beyond this one official. Donalds pointed out that during Hurricane Ian, residents in his district struggled to get timely help from FEMA. The agency has repeatedly shown itself to be more than a little sluggish in its response, raising questions about how efficiently it’s run and how deeply political biases have infiltrated its ranks.
And who’s at the top overseeing FEMA right now? That’s right: Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s head of DHS. This is the same guy who’s been ignoring the border crisis for years, allowing chaos to reign unchecked. Mayorkas’ political leanings have been on full display in his management—or lack thereof—of the border, so should we really be surprised when his officials start playing political games with disaster relief too?
A Reckoning for FEMA
This kind of partisan behavior in disaster relief is simply unacceptable. Americans need an agency that’s committed to protecting them, not picking political sides. The truth is, the American people deserve better than to be pawns in a bureaucratic mess. They deserve accountability, efficiency, and, above all, fairness.
It’s time FEMA and the rest of DHS had a reckoning. Because if they can’t be trusted to serve Americans equally, regardless of who they voted for, then maybe Donalds is right: FEMA should be reporting straight to the White House.