In a heated exchange on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) firmly denied that there was any evidence FEMA discriminated against disaster victims based on political affiliation under President Biden — despite multiple firings and an investigation confirming that a Biden-era FEMA supervisor directed relief workers to avoid Trump supporters' homes.
DeLauro, defending the agency during a hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, challenged the need for sweeping reforms: “Where is the evidence of the failure of FEMA?” she asked, suggesting that criticism of the agency was politically motivated.
Secretary Noem, however, didn’t hold back. She cited a backlog of unresolved disaster claims — some dating back nearly two decades — and accused FEMA of failing the very citizens it pledges to serve. “One of the worst things the federal government can do,” Noem stated, “is promise to be there in the worst moments of people’s lives and then not show up.”
But the real flashpoint came when DeLauro dismissed the idea that FEMA showed bias during the Biden years. “No evidence, no direction of agency or field leadership to discriminate,” she said, referencing an internal review. That assertion, however, is at odds with public findings from both the Office of Special Counsel and FEMA’s own disciplinary actions.
Last November, Marn’i Washington, a FEMA supervisor, was terminated after instructing relief teams in Lake Placid, Florida, to skip homes “advertising Trump.” The Office of Special Counsel later confirmed not only the directive’s existence but also that Washington lied about alleged safety threats to justify her order. In February, three more FEMA officials — all within her supervisory chain — were fired during the fallout of the investigation.
DeLauro’s dismissal of these events as irrelevant or isolated runs directly counter to the agency’s own conclusions. FEMA admitted the three fired employees weren’t directly responsible but were removed due to their roles in the supervisory structure.
The gravity of the situation prompted President Trump to issue an executive order in January creating a council to explore dismantling FEMA entirely, shifting responsibility for disaster response to the states.
“There are serious concerns of political bias in FEMA,” Trump wrote in the order, highlighting testimony from a former responder who said managers explicitly told her to avoid Trump supporters’ homes.
Pressed on the administration’s plans, Noem reiterated the president’s goal: “President Trump has been very clear… FEMA, as it exists today, should be eliminated, and empowering states to respond to disasters with federal government support.”