A report from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) crew illegally bypassed 11 homes with political signs supporting Donald Trump’s campaign following Hurricane Milton in 2024. The federal watchdog stated the incident violated ethics rules and negatively affected public trust in the agency’s impartiality. The findings conclude a nearly two-year investigation into the Disaster Survivor Assistance teams that surveyed Florida after hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The incident first gained attention in late 2024, leading FEMA to fire the crew leader, Marn’i Washington, and other involved staff members. While FEMA leadership initially described the event as an isolated occurrence, the OIG report noted that the agency lacked adequate policies to explain why crews skipped certain homes. In November 2024, then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell testified before the House Oversight Committee that Washington’s actions were unacceptable.
In February 2025, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) filed a Hatch Act complaint against Washington. The Hatch Act is a federal law that restricts the partisan political activities of government employees to ensure programs are administered in a nonpartisan manner. According to the OSC, Washington repeatedly instructed her subordinates to avoid properties with Trump 2024 campaign signage. Washington told NewsNation at the time that she was following orders based on "hostile" encounters her team had experienced at homes with such signs.
The OIG report identified systemic issues, noting that FEMA did not provide sufficient ethics training regarding the Hatch Act prior to the incident. Furthermore, the watchdog found that the survey software used by crews, Survey123, did not require standardized notes for why a location was skipped. This lack of data made it difficult for investigators to determine if other homes had been bypassed for unallowable reasons during different disaster responses.
For federal workers, the incident has already resulted in mandatory ethics training and sets a precedent for how the Hatch Act is enforced during field operations. The investigation clarifies that personal political bias, or avoiding homes due to perceived hostility linked to political signs, constitutes a legal violation for government employees on duty. The scale of the impact on future investigations is also significant; because a contract for the Survey123 program lapsed in 2025 without being renewed by then-Secretary Kristi Noem, the OIG reported it cannot access records to verify if similar incidents occurred elsewhere.
The knock-on effects include a documented erosion of public trust in FEMA’s impartiality, which may influence how residents in disaster-prone states interact with federal teams. The report noted that without standardized reporting for skipped homes, the agency remains vulnerable to similar ethics violations. Moving forward, the agency has implemented mandatory ethics training for all disaster response crews. The legal process regarding the Hatch Act complaint filed in February 2025 continues to determine final disciplinary measures or legal consequences for those involved.