The Hill

A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) crew broke the law when it skipped houses with President Trump signs during Hurricane Milton recovery efforts in 2024, according to an internal government watchdog.

A new report from the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general's office determined that the crew violated the Hatch Act and FEMA policy when it skipped 11 Florida homes that indicated support for Trump, who was a candidate at the time.

It said that the incident "eroded public trust in FEMA's ability to treat everyone impartially, offer unbiased and consistent assistance, and ensure equal access to resources and tools."

The report blamed "weaknesses in FEMA's training, documentation, and oversight," saying that the agency did give crews ethics and Hatch Act training before responding to disasters.

The incident became a political flash point at the time and stoked significant GOP scrutiny of the disaster response agency. Trump eventually called for abolishing FEMA, though he later pivoted for trying to downsize it and limit aid given to states.

The Office of the Special Counsel similarly found last year that the incident in question violated the Hatch Act. A spokesperson for the inspector general's office confirmed that the new report pertains to the same incident.

The Hatch Act limits federal employees' political activities while acting in their official capacity, including barring them from using their official authority to influence election results.

Christopher Logan, FEMA's associate administrator, said that the agency no longer conducts "FEMA-led door-to-door outreach efforts."

"Staff now provide support to survivors from fixed locations determined by state and local officials through a data-informed approach," Logan wrote in an official response to the report.

He also said that after the incident, the agency gave Disaster Survivor Assistance crews mandatory Hatch Act and ethics training.

Michael Coen, who was FEMA's chief of staff during the Biden administration, said in a text message to The Hill that the report "reinforces" that the "violations were not systematic and were isolated."

"FEMA took appropriate action when the violations were briefed to senior leadership," Coen said.

The inspector general's report also notes that the office could not determine if crews skipped locations for reasons that were not allowed during other disasters because then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did not act on FEMA's request to fund the agency's field assessment and collection tools.

The report comes after the Trump administration itself has also faced accusations of politicizing disaster aid. Politico reported earlier this year that the president had approved 23 percent of disaster funding requests from blue states and 89 percent of requests from red states.