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FEMA Fraud: 20 Times More Applicants Than Homes in Los Angeles Fires

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has received 270,000 applications from purported homeowners in the recent L.A. fires — though only abut 13,000 homes were destroyed.

A FEMA official gave the staggering figure — more than twenty times the number of eligible applicants — as concerns about fraudulent applications continue to plague the agency, more than two months after the fire.

As Breitbart News has reported, many displaced residents had tried applying for FEMA relief, only to find that someone else had already applied in their name and with their address, locking them out of the system.

FEMA attempts to make relief funds easy to apply for, but the downside is that fraudsters can more easily take advantage of the system. A FEMA official said that problem was a major reason for closing applications at the end of the month, instead of extending them for a full year, as Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) requested. (Read more from “FEMA Fraud: 20 Times More Applicants Than Homes in Los Angeles Fires” HERE)

FEMA Employees Fired Over ‘Egregious’ $59M Payment for NYC Migrants

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Four Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees, including a top-level executive, have been fired after sending millions of dollars to New York City to house and care for illegal migrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“Effective immediately, FEMA is terminating the employment of four individuals for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,” DHS officials said in a statement obtained by The Post.

The firings, first reported by Fox News, include FEMA’s chief financial officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS will not sit idly and allow deep state activists to undermine the will and safety of the American people,” the statement added.

On Monday, Elon Musk, who runs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), posted on X that his team had discovered that FEMA has recently paid out $59 million meant for disaster relief to the Big Apple for “luxury hotels” to house illegal migrants. (Read more from “FEMA Employees Fired Over ‘Egregious’ $59M Payment for NYC Migrants” HERE)

Inside FEMA’s Sickening History of Misspending Billions of Taxpayers’ Dollars — And Going Largely Unchecked

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By New York Post. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has mismanaged tens of billions of dollars over the years, according to numerous government reports into its spending.

The government agency’s response to COVID, hurricanes, floods and housing migrants have all come under fire for being wasteful and going largely unchecked — as the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been sent in to analyze its spending.

The most recent audit of the embattled disaster response agency claimed it mismanaged nearly $10 billion during the COVID pandemic between 2020 and 2023.

FEMA even approved a grant of $1.1 billion despite it only being supported by only a single piece of paper with no itemized costs, the Jan. 30 audit by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General found.

The request was also “not prepared by a licensed professional engineer or cost-estimating professional,” according to the 36-page report.

The Trump administration has called for a complete overhaul of FEMA, which has a slated budget of $65 billion for fiscal year 2025. (Read more from “Inside FEMA’s Sickening History of Misspending Billions of Taxpayers’ Dollars — And Going Largely Unchecked” HERE)

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Trump Admin Axes FEMA Employees Behind $59 Million ‘Luxury’ Hotel Scheme

By Daily Caller. The Trump administration has fired four Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees for sending $59 million in taxpayer dollars to New York City hotels to house and care for illegal migrants.

The firings come after Elon Musk, whose mission is weeding out frivolous spending within the U.S. government through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) agency, highlighted the price tag in a social media post Monday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the firings Tuesday and referred to the payments as “egregious”.

“Effective immediately, FEMA is terminating the employment of four individuals for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,” DHS said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Firings include FEMA’s Chief Financial Officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist.”

“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS will not sit idly and allow deep state activists to undermine the will and safety of the American people,” the statement continued. (Read more from “Trump Admin Axes FEMA Employees Behind $59 Million ‘Luxury’ Hotel Scheme” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

FEMA Director Says Criticism of Agency Is Misinformation

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Instead of taking responsibility for the slow and apparently politically motivated response to disaster relief after hurricanes Milton and Helene, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Deanne Criswell criticized what she deems to be the spread of “misinformation” in a House hearing on Tuesday.

Following reports of former FEMA official Marn’i Washington directing her disaster response team to avoid the homes of Trump supporters, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing giving Criswell an opportunity to answer for the political response from her agency.

“This type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA, and we will hold people accountable if they violate our standards of conduct,” Criswell said at the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management hearing, indicating that the political response was isolated to Washington’s Florida team, and not “indicative of any widespread cultural problems at FEMA.”

While Criswell also said that preliminary findings in the investigation launched after the Washington revelations have not found similar issues, Washington herself has been making her way around the media circuit claiming that her actions were being passed down through the chain of command. (Washington’s position, according to Criswell, is the “lowest level of supervision.”)

While many are skeptical that the issue is isolated given the Biden administration’s politicization of other federal agencies, Criswell and Democrat allies focused their responses heavily on combatting “misinformation” as being at the root of the issue. (Read more from “FEMA Director Says Criticism of Agency Is Misinformation” HERE)

Florida Sues FEMA For ‘Conspiring’ To Deny Disaster Relief To Trump Supporters

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Florida is suing FEMA for allegedly discriminating against supporters of President-elect Donald Trump after a Daily Wire report revealed a supervisor directed relief workers in the Sunshine State to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”

The suit, from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, alleges that FEMA Director Deanne Criswell and now-fired supervisor Marn’i Washington conspired against the civil rights of Trump supporters in Lake Placid, Florida. The suit comes after whistleblowers told The Daily Wire they were directed to bypass the homes of people with Trump flags or yard signs when canvassing homes in Lake Placid to see if they qualified for hurricane assistance after Hurricane Milton.

“While the facts will continue to come out over the weeks and months, it is already clear that Defendant Washington conspired with senior FEMA officials, as well as those carrying out her orders, to violate the civil rights of Florida citizens,” the suit says.

The suit, which cites reporting from The Daily Wire, accuses both Criswell and Washington of illegally depriving Trump supporters of federal aid. Moody filed the suit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Pierce Division.

“Hurricane season is not over, and the federal agency in charge of emergency response is embroiled in scandal – caught withholding aid from storm victims in Florida who support President Trump,” Moody said in a statement. “I am taking swift legal action to find out how far this political discrimination reaches and to make sure all Americans who fall victim to devastating storms are served, regardless of their political affiliation.” (Read more from “Florida Sues FEMA For ‘Conspiring’ To Deny Disaster Relief To Trump Supporters” HERE)

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‘Blatant Weaponization’: FEMA Facing Investigations for Targeting Suffering Trump Supporters

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Republicans are calling for investigations, or are already launching their own, into charges that the federal government deliberately and willfully discriminated against supporters of President-elect Donald Trump following a hurricane disaster in Florida.

It was the Daily Wire that initially documented how Marn’I Washington, a Federal Emergency Management Agency supervisor, instructed employees under her authority to deprive homeowners who expressed support for Trump’s campaign of federal help following the 2024 hurricane season.

According to a report from the Washington Stand, “At least 20 houses with Trump signs or Trump flags displayed were skipped over by FEMA with employees designating the houses with variations of ‘Trump sign no entry per leadership.'” . . .

Gov. Ron DeSantis, of Florida, said, “At my direction, the [Florida] Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump.”

He explained, “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. … New leadership is on the way in DC, and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.” (Read more from “‘Blatant Weaponization’: FEMA Facing Investigations for Targeting Suffering Trump Supporters” HERE)

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FEMA Official Allegedly Directed Hurricane Relief Workers to Skip Homes of Trump Supporters

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A recent report has raised concerns over alleged instructions from a FEMA official to relief workers in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, directing them to bypass homes displaying support for President-elect Donald Trump. According to multiple sources within the agency, Marn’i Washington, a FEMA supervisor, reportedly told workers both verbally and via a group chat to “avoid homes advertising Trump” while conducting disaster relief operations.

The report, first shared with The Daily Wire, claims that this directive led to at least 20 homes in Lake Placid, Florida, being skipped. These homes, which prominently displayed Trump signs or flags, were reportedly not given the chance to qualify for FEMA assistance, as workers were instructed not to provide aid. The sources noted that FEMA workers recorded messages in the agency’s system such as “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” indicating adherence to the guidance.

Several government employees, part of a surge capacity team from the Department of Homeland Security, were involved in the operation. These workers had volunteered to assist FEMA during a critical staffing shortage following the impact of two major hurricanes in the region. One anonymous source shared with The Daily Wire that while they had initially volunteered to help in the wake of the hurricane’s destruction, they were shocked to find they were being asked to discriminate against residents based on political affiliation.

“I knew FEMA was understaffed, and I thought we could make a difference,” the source explained. “But when we got there, we were told to discriminate against people. It’s almost unbelievable that anyone in the federal government would think this is acceptable.”

The incident reportedly took place in Highlands County, Florida, a region that had strongly supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election, with nearly 70 percent of voters backing the Republican candidate. This development comes amid broader criticism of FEMA’s handling of relief efforts in various parts of the country, including communities affected by Hurricane Helene, where widespread power outages, flooding, and road damage left many without basic services.

FEMA has yet to publicly comment on the specific allegations, but the report has drawn attention to concerns over political bias in the delivery of federal aid during emergencies.

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Concerns Raised Over Response Amid Hurricane: FEMA Sabotaging Volunteer Relief Efforts

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Recent events in North Carolina have sparked significant concern regarding the actions of FEMA and the National Guard during hurricane relief efforts. Reports indicate that a FEMA helicopter was seen flying low over a volunteer supply drop zone, allegedly due to tensions with volunteers who refused to allow FEMA to confiscate their supplies. This incident has raised questions about the federal agency’s priorities and its relationship with local volunteers.

A tweet from WorldNetDaily detailed these reports, highlighting the volunteers’ refusal to relinquish supplies intended for those affected by Hurricane Helene.

Compounding these concerns, President Biden's comments regarding the disaster response have also drawn scrutiny. During a recent public appearance, he appeared unaware of which storm was being referred to, prompting reactions from observers questioning his engagement with the ongoing crisis. In another statement, Biden assured that states affected by Hurricane Helene were "getting everything they need," a claim that some find hard to believe given the reported challenges on the ground.

FEMA Website Admits Keeping You Alive In A Natural Disaster Isn’t Its Top Priority

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Residents of flooded out towns across Appalachia have been forced to rely on charity relief efforts days after a Category 4 hurricane brought “biblical devastation” to communities seemingly abandoned by the federal government. While Hurricane Helene brewed over the Atlantic, the nation’s pre-eminent disaster agency was apparently distracted by concerns of “equity” and “climate resilience” over emergency preparedness.

The storm-related death toll eclipsed 100 on Monday morning as Americans desperate for resources depend on local first responders and private helicopters rather than the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). While FEMA routinely prepares for colossal rescue operations in the days leading up to major storms, such pre-staged support was clearly not available to residents in the Appalachian towns washed away by the torrential downpour from last week’s hurricane.

In an interview published with NPR on Sunday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who visited where the hurricane made landfall in Florida this weekend, was asked about the devastation in Tennessee and North Carolina.

“I believe it’s nine search-and-rescue teams in North Carolina,” Criswell said, with “more that are coming in today.”

“We’re sending in more resources,” the FEMA chief added, “to make sure we can get to everybody that’s been impacted by this, people that are still isolated from the effects of the storm.” (Read more from “FEMA Website Admits Keeping You Alive In A Natural Disaster Isn’t Its Top Priority” HERE)

States Can Handle Disasters Better than FEMA, Cato Study Finds

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Photo Credit: Getty / Spencer Platt

Photo Credit: Getty / Spencer Platt

Congress should abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency because it has politicized and bureaucratized how the nation responds to major disasters like Hurricane Sandy, according to a new think tank study.

“The large amount of federal disaster aid that is potentially available to the states has created a political dynamic that has pushed up federal costs. After even small, local disasters, governors, state politicians and congressional delegations often lobby the White House to declare the event a “major disaster’ so a state can access federal aid,” the Cato Institute’s Chris Edwards writes in a study made public Wednesday.

“As a consequence, the number of disaster declarations has soared in recent decades. The annual average number was 51 in the 1970s, 29 in the 1980s, 74 in the 1990s, 127 in the 2000s, and 139 so far in the 2010s,” Edwards says.

Read more from this story HERE.