An internal probe found that FEMA officials under Joe Biden’s administration refused to help disaster victims who displayed support for President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday.
DHS investigators said the politically motivated discrimination stretched from Hurricane Ida in 2021 to Hurricane Milton in 2024.
The DHS Privacy Office concluded that FEMA workers “systematically bypassed” homes with pro-Trump or Second Amendment signs, collecting political data on survivors in direct violation of the Privacy Act of 1974.
The report described the behavior as “a troubling overreach” that weaponized federal disaster relief against Americans in crisis.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem condemned the findings: “The federal government was withholding aid from Americans based on their political beliefs — this should horrify every citizen.”
According to the 50-page investigation, FEMA employees were told to avoid “homes advertising Trump.”
At least 20 Florida homes reportedly went without initial aid after Hurricane Milton, according to the probe.
FEMA staff also logged information about residents’ political views, a move DHS said “demonstrated a failure to protect data integrity and fairness.”
Investigators found the discrimination was not isolated, contrary to testimony from Biden’s FEMA administrator, Deanne Criswell, before Congress.
And it occurred in multiple disasters across several states.
FEMA violated the Privacy Act by creating an undisclosed database linking personal information to political beliefs, according to the DHS investigators.
Some FEMA staff reportedly admitted using “avoid homes advertising Trump” as code for “avoid hostile homes.”
DHS investigators said that excuse did not hold up and had no basis in policy or safety guidance.
FEMA’s training, they found, never defined what “hostile” meant — leaving field workers to act on personal bias.
The probe exposed years of misconduct: collecting political data, skipping homes, and failing to report privacy violations to DHS headquarters.
FEMA records showed no privacy-incident reports were filed between 2021 and 2024 despite the alleged illegal data collection.
To address the findings, Noem referred the case to the Justice Department for potential prosecution.
She also ordered DHS inspector general to open a separate review, canceled FEMA’s door-to-door survey program, and mandated stricter oversight of data collection.
The DHS report recommends banning unstructured data entry so field agents can’t add political comments, and retraining staff on what information they’re legally allowed to gather.
FEMA must also define legitimate “safety” or “hostility” concerns so that political expression isn’t mistaken for threat behavior.
Critics said the findings confirmed long-standing suspicions that the Biden administration turned relief work into partisan punishment.
DHS investigators warned the scandal has already “eroded public trust” and risked lives by delaying aid to disaster victims for political reasons.
“The American people expect FEMA to help all survivors — period,” Noem said.
“We’re making sure this kind of abuse never happens again.”
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