Noem Promises To Keep Politics Out Of DHS When Asked About FEMA Scandal

South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem promised during her confirmation hearing on Friday that, if confirmed, the Department of Homeland Security would not be politicized when asked about the FEMA scandal in Florida where relief workers were ordered to skip homes with Trump flags or yard signs. 

Noem was also asked about securing the border, the state of the Secret Service, and FEMA’s response to natural disasters. 

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) asked Noem about an incident first reported by The Daily Wire in Lake Placid, Florida, when FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington ordered Hurricane Milton relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”

“Last year FEMA employees during disaster relief were instructed by one of their supervisors that if they see a Trump sign or a Trump flag flying to skip that house, to not stop by there, and tell them what their federal government can do for them,” Lankford said. “Will you allow FEMA employees or any within DHS to politicize their role or pick and choose who gets help and who doesn’t as an American?”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) asks Trump Homeland Security nominee Kristi Noem about my exclusive Daily Wire report revealing that FEMA skipped at least 20 homes during hurricane relief operations in Florida because of Trump flags or signs. pic.twitter.com/MmadHBPSME

— Leif Le Mahieu (@leif_lemahieu) January 17, 2025

The instructions from Washington, given verbally and in a group chat, led to FEMA workers skipping some 20 homes from late October into early November when they canvassed Lake Placid. FEMA workers later visited those homes a day after The Daily Wire published its report. 

“Under President Trump’s administration, disaster and emergency relief will not be handed out with political bias,” Noem told Lankford. “Every American will be responded to and treated equally.”

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has maintained that Washington’s guidance was an isolated incident that violated agency policies. In subsequent interviews, Washington claimed that her orders were based on widespread “avoidance” policies approved by FEMA in cases of political “hostility.” 

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Multiple investigations, including from the inspector general, are ongoing, probing claims of similar misconduct in North Carolina. 

Specifically, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari is looking into claims made to lawmakers on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that entire neighborhoods were skipped in North Carolina if more than three signs displayed support for Trump. 

Various names have been floated around for who Trump might task with replacing Criswell at FEMA, but no official decision has been announced yet.